Absolving the Past
by SWtRLF
Summary: After the events in Numbani, Sombra needs a break to collect her thoughts. Unfortunately, old grudges keep this from happening. Rated M for language and future sexual content. Said sexual content will have separate chapters which will be marked as optional and not affect the story, though it might be referenced. Some Spanish is used, though mistakes are highly possible! Forgive me!
1. With Drink?

Have you ever made a mistake?

No need to lie, I already know you have. Your internet history tells quite a story. Then again, if you're into THAT then maybe you don't see it as a mistake? Maybe this little story will give you a few jollies, pervertido.

But I digress.

Mistakes are a part of human nature. From the time we are able to walk and talk, we are doing things we regret or wish we could take back. I'm no different, unfortunately. Though unlike your choices on the world wide web, MY mistakes have consequences that are more than just a bit of a red face and people looking at you funny. My screw ups can get people in the kind of trouble that sees your body ending up in a ditch somewhere.

Like a majority of mistakes, this one came to be thanks to a mixture of desperation, hormones and quite a bit of alcohol.

* * *

"¿Es esto lo que llamas tequila?"

Sombra knew this place was run down and shitty, but something made her feel at home among the rotting wood, broken windows and drinks that could be used as floor polish. The bartender was used to her shit by now, the comments she made barely even drawing his usual condescending smirk. Looking into the bottom of the glass, she ordered another with her free hand while choking the current one down with a single gulp. The burning throat kept her tied to reality.

Not drunk enough.

The portly man took the glass, merely turning the bottle of the low shelf drink of choice onto it's head in order to fill it about halfway before sliding it back. A small smile pulls at her lips, the liquor a bit darker than the last glass. Better to not think too hard about how legitimate this stuff was, as long as it did the job. Knocking back this shot was a bit easier than the first, the burn starting to fade as the liquid slid down.

"Heh.. perfecto.."

After a few more shots, the place was starting to buzz in various ways. The fan in the upper corner was blowing around the dry air in some feeble attempt to cool the place down, as the small TV behind the bar was currently set to the news. Sombra tried not to pay too much attention, as all they were talking about was what had happened in Numbani only a few weeks ago. Of course none of those idiots actually knew what had happened. They all assumed someone had just broken in to steal the artifacts, other outlets claiming that it was Omnics in order to try and start fake controversy. Those who knew what had happened weren't about to come out and spill the beans. That would mean letting the world know that agencies like Talon and Overwatch weren't just stories that parents told their kids about. That would mean sharing secrets.

If it had been any other situation, Sombra would have been all over it. Getting into any computer she could, cracking every single last line of code possible to find some sort of truth. Problem was, she already knew the truth. She had witnessed it first hand.

Her mind began to buzz with the thoughts of what she had seen, what she had done and the consequences. While she had been a major player in saving the day, she was also the biggest resource in putting it in danger. That last scene played out in her head on repeat. The kneeling man, gun to his head. She had helped kill him.

"Otro..."

The tender shook his head, instead taking the glass from the tipsy woman and putting it in the sink. A drunken dirty look was shot at him, though it was growing hard to keep him in focus. A sudden outburst of anger found her fist on the bar, her teeth grit as she stared the man who was cutting her off right when she was starting to go numb. A smooth voice came from her left, pulling her attentions elsewhere.

"You really shouldn't push your luck around these parts ma'am."

The perfect English coming from anyone that frequented this shit hole caught Sombra off guard. With slightly blurred vision, her eyes swiveled to find the source of the voice. What they found was someone who did not belong anywhere near where he was. As bad as a response as it probably was, she couldn't help but laugh. He looked like he had just stepped out of one of those old western movies and wasn't missing a single piece of the get up. Cowboy hat, boots, a poncho covering his dirty shirt and a pair of dust covered pants. The slight gleam of his belt buckle kept her attention for a few seconds, the laugh softening to a giggle.

"Is that so, vaquero? What're you gonna do? Rassle me up like some cattle? Tie me up and drag me to the barn?" Another soft giggle, though this one added in a raised eyebrow and an alcohol induced purr.

"Ooh, maybe that's what you're into though? Gimme enough time and I'm sure I can find out..."

The cowboy didn't say anything else, merely removing himself from his stool a few spots down and relocating to the spot right beside Sombra. He didn't look at her though, merely staring at the TV as if it had been the first time he had seen what they were covering.

"What I'm gonna do is save your life. Now sit up straight and keep your eyes ahead, like you're watching the news and it's the most interesting thing you've ever seen."

His voice was so demanding. Who did he think he was to boss her around like that? Only one other man had done such a thing and the fact that this damned cowboy had reminded her of him made Sombra clench her jaw and spit her response.

"Believe it or not vaquero, I'm not some maiden looking for help. I don't need you, or anyone for that matter, to come save me. I've drunk by myself plenty of times..."

The statement caused a moment of clarity, Sombra's head picking up a little to argue with the cowboy to his face. In the corner of her eye, she would see them. At least six or seven thuggish looking pricks, all doing their best to look nonchalant, even though they were all crowded around the entrance. It was obvious from just the few seconds of sight that they were with the local gang, the color scheme matching this territory. The drunken woman's head quickly jolted forward, right hand slowly reaching into her jacket and gripping at the machine pistol she kept with her at all times. Blinking a few times, Sombra could feel the adrenaline starting to pour into her veins and mixing with the booze.

"How long.. have they been there?"

"A good couple minutes, though I wouldn't make any sudden moves. They seem... twitchy."

Sombra nodded softly, the back of her neck crawling as she could feel the thugs sizing her and her new friend up. As badly as she wanted another shot to dull her nerves, the last thing she needed was an even sloppier shot. She swallowed a bit hard, eyeing the cowboy as he continued to watch the television. How could he be so damned calm at a time like this?

As that thought passed through her mind, the cowboy turned around with a smile on his face, the brim of his hat just barely covering his eyes as his elbows rested atop the bar.

"If you boys value your lives, you best run to the hills while you got a chance."

The sudden shift from being cautious to openly acknowledging the men threw Sombra through a loop. Most had already been staring at the back of the man's head as soon as he had scooted closer to Sombra, though the last few were now all staring the out of place man down with evil intent clearly plastered on their faces. One stood up with a wide, stupid grin on his face, stepping closer though just out of arm's reach. His accent was thick, but his English was clear enough to understand. He had a few tattoos along his neck and arms, Sombra recognizing some as upper level gang marks.

"The FUCK you gonna do if we don't, vaquero? Gonna tie us up and call your deputy to take us down to the ole jail cell?"

The thugs all laughed in unison as their spokesman spit at the floor in front of the cowboy, looking back up at him with an obvious lack of fear. The tension in the air was thick as the cowboy slowly tilted his head up enough to stare at his new acquaintance. Sombra couldn't keep her eyes from switching between the two of them, her hand growing sweaty as she clung to her weapon. She was ready to pull it as soon as the thugs drew theirs.

The cowboy sighed softly, shaking his head a bit before his tone became a bit cold.

"Sadly, boys like you only learn from... rougher treatment."

Jumping from his seat, the cowboy brought his right foot up and found the first thug's gut, and audible sound of air being forced from his lungs from the surprise. Sombra barely had enough time to spin around and pull her weapon before 6 shots rang out. She was expecting the men to drop dead where they sat, but instead the sound of metal clunked to the floor below them. The cowboy spun his gun rather flashily before putting it away in it's holster at his side, his left arm reaching out and grabbing the thug he had kicked by the front of his shirt. The shine of the metal appendage was quick as he threw the thug onto the bar.

"Watch this one for a second darlin'?"

Sombra had finally managed to pull her weapon, ready to shoot as she got the new command. Part of her wanted to argue though with what she had just seen, she was just glad the cowboy wasn't gunning for her yet. Her eyes locked in on the thug that was now laying on top of the cleared bar, before she whacked him with the butt of her gun as he tried to pull himself up.

"¿Tu estupido?"

The thug growled but stayed put, his eyes staring down the gun as the cowboy walked over to his friends.

"Now then, you boys oughta be glad that you all still got your heads. I know bullets hurt, but better pain than not feeling anything, right?"

The cowboy smiled and kicked the dropped weapons off to the side before pulling out a cigar and a match, striking the small stick against one of the tables and lighting his smoke. He puffed on it a few times, his eyes going from thug to thug before he chuckled.

"Well go on now, get out!"

Without another word, the place was emptied of everyone save for Sombra, the cowboy and their captive friend. As the final thug left, the door shut and stayed that way. The cowboy came back and put his metal arm along the thug's chest, pulling his cigar from his mouth with his free hand and blowing the smoke out slowly.

"Now then amigo, we're gonna have ourselves a little pow wow right here and now. What you're gonna tell me and my new friend here.." The cowboy looked over at Sombra with a small smile and a nod, "..is why exactly you and your boys just went and ruined what could have been a wonderful night for the two of us."

Sombra's adrenaline rush had passed, her nerves melting as the cowboy seemed to have things under control. Her lips couldn't help but purse slightly as he spoke, though she blinked and shook her head to focus.

"Now, if we don't like what we hear? Well..." The cowboy pulled his cigar from his lips again, a large bit of the end just begging to be knocked away.

"It's pretty hot around here, ain't it? So this little bit shouldn't be too awful bad, just like a normal day for you?" The cowboy stared into the thug's eyes as he brought his cigar right above the slightly shaken captive's crotch, a few of the embers slipping off the end.

"Heh... you think you scare me vaquero?" The thug held up one of his hands to show that he was missing a pinky, his grin rather crazed now.

"I've been through way worse than a bit of burning." The thug laughed before the cowboy grimaced and shoved his cigar downwards, Sombra making a slightly disgusted face as the sizzle of cheap cloth and skin could soon be heard and smelt.

The thug cried out loudly, though he soon clenched his jaw closed as his eyes grew wide.

"NNGH C'MON COWBOY, YOU WANNA KNOW WHY WE WANNA KILL THIS LITTLE PUTA? DO YOUR WORST!"

Sombra growled and grit her teeth, her drunken state taking over as she was insulted. She grabbed the cigar from the cowboy and pushed him aside, pressing the thing against the thug's throat with obvious malice.

The smell of flesh burning grew stronger as the cowboy had to push Sombra back to keep her from burning through the poor man's throat. As much as the thug probably deserved it, he still needed to be able to talk if they wanted to know anything.

As Sombra was pushed back, the thug laughed a bit, though he seemed to be a bit more fearful of his well being now that he saw the bad cop in this situation. He coughed a few times, struggling to breathe as he scooted himself further from the still crazed looking girl.

"Heh.. _cough_.. she knows what she did. Why she's already a dead girl..."

The thug was cut off by a swift punch to the face, the cowboy ending their conversation. It was obvious to the both of them that the thug wasn't going to say much more and from the way that Sombra was staring at the now unconscious jerk, she in fact did know why she was in this situation. The cowboy took a deep breath and brought his sight back to Sombra, tone softer than before but still taking charge of the situation.

"So then, I say we take out the trash and get out of here before more come. You got somewhere we can go?"

Sombra nodded for a second before realizing that he had said 'we'. She stood up and scoffed as she grabbed the thug and pulled him off the bar without much concern for how he landed on the floor. The loud thunk was oddly satisfying to hear.

"Whaddaya mean _we_ , vaquero? I'm perfectly fine on my own." While she was still slightly tipsy, the adrenaline surge had sobered her up enough to believe the lie.

"While I am sure you are, I couldn't have it on my conscience to let you do so. If these guys are after ya, I'm sure they'll go through hell and high water to find ya."

Sombra scoffed at the mention of a conscience. What did having one of those ever do, apart from making life nothing but regrets for things you've done to stay alive?

"You might be able to just talk your way into any girl's home back in America vaquero, but I actually have standards." What those standards were, she wasn't quite sure but the line sounded good enough at the time. Sombra was always prepared, always the one in control. Yet she couldn't deny that the unknown factor of the man did pique her curiosity and researching him could prove useful in forgetting other things.

"Now miss, I never had any intentions of beddin' you. I'd like to just say that you _did_ start it with that whole ropin' line." The cowboy chuckled as he smirked, one of his eyebrows raising as he called Sombra out about her previous comments. Sombra returned his look with a slightly dirty one, eyes squinted as if trying to deny that she had said anything of the sort. After a few seconds of their stare down, Sombra sighed and gave in.

"Fine vaquero, I've got a place that isn't my usual place that we can hide out in. But first things first, I'm gonna need your name." While this was an obvious part of the whole 'trusting each other' thing that she was sure the cowboy would want a part of, Sombra had other reasons for needing this.

"Of course darlin'." He brought his hat off his head, doing a little bow with a smile.

"Name's McCree."


	2. Hide, No Seeking

Sombra sat there for a second, the sight of the cowboy's pose forcing her to bite her lip as he introduced himself in such a manner. While she couldn't deny that he was quite the dashing rogue, she had seen plenty of mysterious men through her life. Most of them had tried to use her for one reason or another, usually her ability to find things that nobody else could. She didn't mind as long as they paid her in one way or another, though some of them decided that they were too good to do so. Those were the ones who found out just how deeply into their past she could go. She had seen and been the reason for many faction changes in the past. As she went over the multiple faces and names in her head, she would come across as rather focused and inattentive to the cowboy who was waiting for some sort of response.

"Uhh.. darlin'? You still there?" McCree put his hat back atop his head and stepped a little closer, waving an arm in front of Sombra's eyes for a few seconds.

Sombra blinked as she was pulled from her thoughts, realizing just how close McCree was to her now and taking a step back.

"Woah now, back up MUH-Cree." The way she said his name was a mixture of poking fun at it and spitting it out as she squinted at him before pushing the hair from her face, eyes pulling away from the cowboy to stare at the still knocked out thug.

"You said it yourself, we need to get this guy outta here and go." Her tone was back to a more sober state, slightly cold and getting straight to the point of the next objective. She wasn't about to let anyone catch her off guard again. She couldn't.

"Yeah, 'spose I did, and it still applies." McCree pulled away from the girl to hopefully ease some tension, walking over to the thug and grabbing at his shoulders from underneath. With a rather well placed and perfectly proper hoisting, the thug was soon on McCree's shoulder. The cowboy made his way towards the back of the bar, kicking open the back door before looking over his shoulder as best he could.

"Unless you plan on taking the last of that shitty booze, I suspect we should get a move on."

Sombra simply gave a nod, though as the cowboy stepped outside she grabbed the bottle that the bartender had so hastily pulled away from her before the little encounter that had just taken place. She grinned to herself, shoving a cork in the top and opening the right part of her jacket to stuff it into a pocket. Her machine pistol was soon stashed in the left side, the girl smirking a bit as she made her way to the back door and stepped into the night.

Even with the sun down, the place was dry and hot. There was a slight draft flowing through the back alley as McCree dumped the thug into a dumpster and closed the lid on him, brushing his hands together a few times as if cleaning his hands of the situation. The cowboy glanced down each side of the alley before looking back to Sombra.

"So then, miss...?" The hanging question was an obvious one, though Sombra merely smiled in response.

"Miss?" She raised an eyebrow, as if calling into question the fact that she was a woman.

"Well, I assumed you're a lass. Though in that particular statement I was askin' for your name darlin'. Or at least, what you go by." His face took on the shape of one that was slightly annoyed that he had to explain such a simple thing, though this look had brought quite a bit of joy to Sombra.

"Hmmm, perhaps I don't tell you my name vaquero. Would that get you to leave me be?"

"Well no, but it sure isn't fair for me to have given you a name without getting one back now is it?" The cowboy stood straight up now, arms cross along his chest as if taking a high ground against her and trying to teach her a lesson.

"You saying that muh-cree isn't your real name vaquero? Sure doesn't sound like a real name. Trust me, I know a thing or two about fake names." Sombra crossed her arms as well, the two of them both realizing that they were wasting time but neither wanting to give in to the other at this point.

"Jesse McCree. My real name, no need to hide it. Know who I am, what I've done. I've found that there are people out there who will try and take everything from you and at the end of the day they can. But the one thing you can't let them take, the one thing you gotta fight and die for is your name. Without your name, you're nothin'." McCree seemed to be taking this rather seriously as he spoke. Sombra felt her jaw tense a bit, a hard swallow following the mentioning of losing your name.

"Sombra."

The simple word caught McCree off guard for a second, his Spanish not all too great. At least he assumed it was something Spanish.

"Shadow?"

"Something like that..." Sombra looked away from the cowboy to end the conversation on her terms, taking a deep breath before slowly making her way through the alley.

"That's all you're getting out of this heart to heart vaquero, let's go." The girl whistled and waved her hand as if she was calling him like a dog to her side. McCree simply shook his head before following, admittedly a few steps behind to keep an eye on her in case she tried to pull anything. At least that was the reasoning he used to justify staring at the girl's butt as she walked. When he finally managed to stop indulging his more base desires, he would make note of the things running along the shaved part of Sombra's head. They looked rather fancy, the shimmering purple reflecting the moon when they passed through certain areas.

McCree had quite a few questions for the girl, mainly relating to why anyone would want her dead. He knew that she wouldn't be up for being interrogated, so he instead planned on helping her relax in whatever ways he could. He was more than sure that she had taken the bottle from the bar, a slight clinking confirming his suspicion as Sombra walked a bit hurriedly now. McCree picked up his pace to keep up, looking around to make sure that she hadn't seen something out of the ordinary.

"What's the rush darlin'? Hear something?"

Sombra shook her head before stopping at a corner, the street sprawling across their path now. The faded sound of running cars began to creep in before passing in front of them, Sombra holding up her hand to make sure McCree didn't step too far.

"My place isn't too far from here but before we go any further, I'm going to lay down some rules."

Sombra quickly spun on her heel to face McCree, the man making sure his eyes were in place to catch her gaze. The lack of trust between them was leaning more on Sombra's side at this point and both of them knew it.

"First off, absolutely no touching of anything when we get there, got it? I have a lot of very expensive and important things that don't need your..." Sombra looked over McCree's hands, trying to find the words to describe them without sounding too bitchy.

"Don't worry, I'm not much into technology anyhow. Last thing I need is to lose this again." He chuckled as he wriggled his mechanical arm's fingers, a smirk coming to his face to lighten the mood. Sombra merely nodded and continued.

"Secondly, you are to do as I say, got it? You might be some quick handed vaquero gunslinger but I know this place better than you. We stick to the shadows and don't let anyone see us. It's bad enough that I have to show YOU where we're going. I don't need the whole damn street coming along for a fiesta."

McCree nodded, more than happy to keep the secret of this place between the two of them. Hopefully this wasn't some sort of trap. She seemed awful keen on keeping herself unknown. Did she have a mind wiping device? Nah, those things couldn't be real, could they? McCree had lost himself in thought before realizing that Sombra had continued with her third point.

"...and these guys aren't all going to just fall over. You got that?"

McCree's eyes opened a bit, a slow nod being followed up by some murmurs of confirmation. Sombra sighed and put her face into one of her hands, muttering words in Spanish that McCree didn't understand, but knew the tone wasn't exactly friendly.

"Just stick close to me and keep it in your pants, eh pistolero?" Sombra didn't really wait for a response, instead spinning once again on her heel and ducking down a rather tight alley towards nowhere in particular. McCree sighed and shook his head, having had a rather fun retort that was now going to eat away at him from not being used. He then followed the swift moving girl, having to grip at his hat a few times to avoid having it knocked from his head from some low hanging wires and jutting out bricks.

The light from the street and cars passing through cascaded over their bodies every few seconds, McCree noting how easily he lost Sombra during the dark sections. It didn't help that she was moving without care for his ability to keep up, her body twisting and turning in such a way that made the cowboy feel the burn. He had chased after a few women in his life, his old lifestyle forcing him to play things fast and loose with his love life. He was trying to not look at this chase in such a way, but letting the thought slip in seemed to make it more worth while to catch up.

Sombra had stopped rather quickly in the middle of a very long and dark section of alleyway, thinking she had seen something out of the corner of her eye. Her concentration was broken as McCree came running in and smacked right into her from behind. His arms quickly wrapped around her, hands inadvertently grabbing at her chest as he leaned over to keep himself from falling and bringing Sombra with him. They sat there for a few seconds, bent over with the cowboy's hands grabbing at something that wasn't his. Before McCree could even attempt to pull himself away, he would feel a sharp heel in his foot. The cowboy bit his tongue to keep from yelling out, his body pulling away quicker than lightning to grab at that now throbbing foot. Sombra stood up, brushing off her coat as she growled.

"Told you to keep it in your pants vaquero, next time it won't be just your foot..." Sombra somewhat knew that there was no way he could have stopped in time, but the little outburst against him made her feel a little better. What was he going to do about it anyway?

McCree let out a few deep breaths, trying to hold back some cussing as he wiggled his foot.

"Now hold on there... you can't stop in the middle of a dark alley and expect me to do the same. I was barely keeping up with you on the run and then you stop? I almost think you were planning something like that!"

Sombra whipped her head around, a rather disgusted look on her face in order to keep him realizing how close he was to being correct before turning her body around and pointing at the man rather accusingly.

"Why in the world would ANYONE want something like that from you, vaquero? Huh? Been over this before, not gonna repeat myself." Sombra waved McCree off as she turned back around and huffed, trying to cool down. The image of what had just happened lingered in a way that annoyed her.

McCree sighed and finally put his foot back down on the ground, the throbbing starting to fade as his eyes dared to look over Sombra once more.

"Now what?" He was short and cold with his words now, just wanting to get to where they needed to be.

Sombra didn't respond, merely pointing to the end of an alley, where a rather shoddy looking wooden door sat. It certainly didn't look like the entrance to a super secret hideout, but McCree figured that was the point. He turned to make his way towards the door, ready to take off his boots and try to relax, before one of Sombra's hands reached out and stopped him from continuing. He squinted as he looked at her, a bit of anger in behind his face. Sombra covered her lips with a finger before pointing at the door and taking something from her pocket.

The small, empty ball looked like some sort of ordinary glass bauble as Sombra threw it along the path. She gave it enough power to make it to the doorway, where it sat for a few seconds.

"So uh..." McCree started to talk before a sudden strike of electricity shot down at the ball, zapping it loudly enough to cause the cowboy to jump a bit.

"Jesus.. the hell was that?"

"Security."

"What, you make a lightning machine or something?"

Sombra shook her head as she took the lead now, picking up the small ball from it's spot and tossing it into the air for a second before catching it and putting it back in her pocket. In the few seconds it was in the air, McCree saw the ball was now full of what looked like electricity, sparking every which way. He didn't understand it, but he was sure glad he hadn't walked too far ahead after seeing the display.

Sombra pulled open the door, a second hiding behind it and looking much more secure than the wooden one that came before it. Her left hand came up and she began to type at the air, small screens popping up as she did so to show her progress with her current task. She hummed to herself as she worked, a few blinking lights going off before the door finally hissed and creaked open. It was obvious that this place wasn't used very often and McCree felt sorry for the poor bastard that came across it without knowing about it.

Following Sombra into her lair, McCree made sure not to get too awful close, lest he trip once more. The place was much darker than the alleyway, making the chances of this improve rather drastically. He kept his hands on the walls on each side, his ears keeping him close to the soft steps of the girl in front of him. They finally hit flat ground, the walls leaving McCree to fend for himself in the darkness.

"So I don't know about you, but I'm not a bat so some lights might be necessary if you wanna avoid.." McCree hadn't finished as the lights came on, his eyes adjusting quickly and finding Sombra standing a few inches in front of him, looking up at him.

"Since you forgot what I said before, I'll repeat myself. NO TOUCHING." Sombra eyed the man for a few seconds before turning around and heading to what McCree assumed was the kitchen of the place. He followed her, soaking in the place and it's rather bare bones look. Seemed might homey for a place she apparently never used. He eyed a fridge, raising an eyebrow as his stomach growled.

"Is it safe to assume that you don't have any food that would still be good in there?"

Sombra had removed her gun and the bottle of alcohol from her jacket before removing the jacket itself and hanging it on a hook, showing off the smooth skin that had been hidden underneath. She eyed the fridge and shrugged, pulling it open and browsing it's contents.

"Uhh.. a couple cans of that pasta stuff that you can microwave. Canned stuff doesn't go bad, right?" She tossed the man a can before grabbing the bottle and flopping onto a long couch behind him, uncorking it and taking a whiff of the stuff. McCree caught the can and shook his head before cracking it open. The stuff looked decent enough, compared to the nothing that awaited him otherwise. He looked around enough before finally finding a spoon, finding his way to the couch across from Sombra and taking a seat.

"So then..." McCree spooned a bite of the pasta and quickly swallowed. "..what's the plan now? We just gonna sit here and hope that things go away?"

Sombra hadn't bothered with finding a glass, instead just pulling the bottle into the air and taking a long chug. As she heard his question, she finished her drink and wiped her mouth before answering.

"Well, first I planned on drinking this entire bottle since I was so rudely interrupted by our guests earlier. After I pass out from that, who knows?" She grinned to herself as she took another large swig, letting out a rather pained breath from the sting of the stuff sliding down her throat once more. She was ready to forget everything again, or at least do her best to try. The alcohol was a good first step, her mind already starting to fog over a bit as she drank. Her eyes lazily glanced along the bottle, thoughts wandering as she did her best to drown them.

She didn't want to fight, she wasn't in the mood to run around and hide. She just wanted to be left alone for a little. She sighed, noticing that McCree had moved to the end of her couch and was eyeing the bottle. Or was he eyeing her?

"Vaquero... I told y-"

"Just gimme the bottle, you're not the only one who needs to blow off a little steam here."

Sombra kept her mouth shut as she leaned up enough to hand off the bottle, watching the cowboy drain the bottle with the same ease that she had just seconds before.

"Hope you don't mind gettin' cooties from me, McCree." She joked, stifling a giggle at what she considered a joke. McCree on the other hand noticed that she had used his name instead of her little nickname for him.

"Don't worry miss shadow, it wouldn't be the first or _worst_ thing I've done to get 'em." He remarked with a nonchalant tone, just letting the words sink into the air and hang there as Sombra did her best to not bite her lip. She found it a bit hard to swallow as her eyes trailed from his lips downward, getting right below his stomach before realizing her feet were resting on his legs. She quickly pulled them back, bringing her knees to her chest and grabbing the bottle from the cowboy.

"You gotta lot of tales then señor pistolero? About how you're the 'fastest gun in the west' and all that?" While her tone made it seem like Sombra was teasing McCree about this, part of her was genuinely curious about the man, though she was too far gone to do proper research on him at this time. So questioning the liquored up cowboy would have to do.

"Heh, I wouldn't say the fastest." He grinned before glancing over at Sombra, a slight twinkle in his eye.

"My gun takes it's time. Makes sure to hit the mark in every way possible."

Sombra quickly pulled the bottle to her lips to hide the fact that she had merely bitten through her bottom one with this last statement. Try as she might, the cowboy had his charms and the amount of alcohol they had gone through certainly hadn't helped. It was about that time that the bottle ran dry, Sombra sucking at air for a few seconds before throwing the bottle to the side and sighing, her gaze not meeting McCree's just yet in attempts to push the growing feelings back down.

"Tell me something McCree..." she softly started, slightly glazed over eyes finally pulling up to meet the man's.

"Why were you in that bar? Why were you there at just the right moment?"

McCree sat up, the now empty can being put to the side of the couch as he smiled.

"Well darlin', we all have things we wanna forget. Sometimes, you gotta do something that feels good to get rid'a all those bad feelings. Now, I don't know if it was fate put us together in that place but whatever it was, it sure helped me knowing that I did a little bit a good before drinking myself to sleep." He chuckled a bit, being thrown off guard as his lap was suddenly taken over by Sombra's body.

"Oooh, the goody two shoes with a dark past huh? Color me... intrigued." Sombra smirked before she pushed herself against the cowboy, her lips meeting his rather fiercely.

When she finally pulled away, McCree found himself speechless for a few seconds. The warmth of the girl pushing along his lower body culminated in a sly and drunken grin coming to his face.

"Careful now, that gun's loaded."

Sombra bit her lip to stifle a drunken giggle, rolling her eyes a bit at the rather terrible line.

"Don't worry vaquero.." Sombra leaned in and whispered into McCree's ear, her smooth voice rolling off rather lustily as she slowly ran her palms along the front of his body.

"I'm good with my hands."


	3. Coming Together (optional)

Sombra and McCree shared a gaze for a while as the woman's hands slowly and methodically worked along the cowboy's body. She started at his chest, those warm palms kneading at his shoulders and pecs as she trailed downward in such a teasing manner. McCree could feel Sombra's nails dragging along every so often and was glad that he was still wearing clothing. He wasn't opposed to a little bit of pain, but he wasn't about to give the woman any ideas on how to torture him should she the need. As Sombra's hands worked their way down to the cowboy's pants, her hips had started to slowly slide back and forth along one of his legs, the grinding keeping her on edge and focused on her main priority, even with the haze of the alcohol starting to set in. Her breathing became slightly labored as she finally pulled her sight from McCree's, her bottom lip getting bitten into as she pops that button of the man's pants rather hastily compared to everything else so far.

Sombra could feel her heart beating in her chest, her body already starting to sweat and glisten in the slight light of the hideout. She had never felt a heat like this before. It differed from what she expected out of this place, a much more bearable warmth. She smiled as she oh so slowly unzipped the cowboy's pants, licking her lips a bit hungrily before looking back at him with a mischievous smirk.

"Any last words before I ruin every other woman you're ever with, _vaquero_?" The words rolled off her tongue with a thicker accent than normal, the last of which was accented with pure lust. Sombra had pulled the flaps of his unzipped pants to the sides, exposing the bulge that lied waiting for attention. She hadn't looked at it just yet, instead eyeing the cowboy and merely tracing her pointer finger's nail along the sides of the bulge. She had stopped her grinding along his leg, the slightly damp heat actually making it harder to focus on her plan of toying with the man.

"Well... darlin'..." McCree's breathing and voice were labored, his excitement obvious from bodily signs but his voice continued it's facade of being in control. He was actually finding it hard to think of anything to say for once in his life. His eyes had searched over the woman in front of him, soaking in every inch of her still clothed body. Her arms and head were the only bits of skin he currently had view of, yet he felt as though he needed nothing else with how experienced her hands seemed to be. He swallowed hard and leaned his head back as he felt his bulge being toyed with by that nail, the thing twitching and throbbing each time she ran along the front of the length. Taking a deep breath, he pulled back up and smiled widely.

"Prove it señorita..."

Sombra grinned toothily at the challenge, her body heating up more as his words rolled around in her head repeatedly. Prove it hmm? Seemed the cowboy didn't know who he was messing with.

"Valiente, vaquero..."

Sombra's hands left the cowboy's crotch, one grabbing his hat and putting in on her own head as she chuckled. Her other hand grabbed at his poncho and pulled the thing off, tossing it to the floor quickly. Next came what Sombra had imagined would have been a shirt, but she instead found some form of chest armor. It was slim and fit to the man's body rather well, though as Sombra touched and pulled at it she would find no way of it actually coming off. She squinted before scowling at McCree, the man smirking and laughing a bit at her confusion.

"Ah, sorry there señorita. You know what they say about protection..." The simple joke made Sombra's eyes roll, though they were soon fixated on the quickly revealed flesh that had laid in wait under McCree's chest protection. He sat up a bit and mess with a few buttons and clasps, the thing soon being peeled off to show off the tanned chest and stomach underneath. While the cowboy wasn't overly muscular, he was toned just enough to make Sombra stare, her hands slowly running over that now bare chest and abdomen with increasing interest. Her nails drug only slightly, though each time one of them hit a nipple, McCree held back the urge to flinch as the sensitive areas were unknowingly toyed with. He had a few wounds from years old conflicts, Sombra sure that each of them had a story behind it. She smirked to herself as she could easily imagine the cowboy showing them off and wooing anyone he wanted with stories of bravery and gunfights.

"Ooh, pobre vaquero.." Her hands slid over the last few marks before crawling back down to where they had been before, resting on each side of that overly excited bulge. She slid herself backwards along his leg slowly before, enjoying herself and giving a cute little moan as she slipped past his knee to kneel on the floor below the cowboy. Her hands grabbed at the sides of his pants and tugged rather viciously, her lust getting to her for a few seconds and wanting to see what she had to work with already.

The pants came flying towards her, stopping as they came to the cowboy's ankles. Sombra's eyes went a bit wide and she cooed softly as McCree's manhood was finally exposed to the open air. She couldn't lie, she hadn't been expecting much. She had only been with a few men over the years, but they all seemed to find it in their best interest to lie about their sizes, as if she was stupid and couldn't measure. There was even one she had openly laughed at, though she had been even drunker than she was at this moment. Sombra got up on her knees, right hand slowly inching towards the seven inch member that throbbed so eagerly in front of her, the thing more enticing than any piece of flesh should ever be.

McCree was doing his best to keep his cool as his pants were all but ripped from his body, the air actually feeling much better against his skin than he thought it would. He had been waiting for a smart comment about his size, though all he had gotten was a rather fixated stare and a coo. He couldn't hold back a wide smile, hoping that Sombra's reaction had meant that she was at least somewhat impressed. He licked his lips as he found himself staring at those luscious lips of hers, the thought of what they were about to do getting him even more excited than he had been before.

Sombra wrapped her right hand around the member, giving the throbbing rod of flesh a few playful squeezes before putting her head into her other palm and stroking the cowboy at a slow but meticulous pace. She made sure that her nails didn't drag, opting instead to see how long she could tease the man before he cracked. She felt her hand growing a bit hotter, each upward stroke getting her fingers covered in the cowboy's excitement.

"Might wanna get your gun checked out vaquero, it seems to have sprung a leak." Her smile was wide, eyes not leaving the stiff rod as she stroked just a tad bit faster. All she got in response was a breathy grunt, though the simple sound proved enough to satisfy her. Her other hand had slipped down her own body now, her hot hand pushing it's way under her clothing and starting to rub her slick sex at the same pace that she teased the cowboy. Her breathing became louder even through the biting of her lip, the stroking motion of her right hand getting a bit off tempo as pleasure began to shoot through her.

"Mierda..." she muttered to herself before pulling her hands away from where they were, standing a bit too quickly. She wobbled for a second, the cowboy quick to reach out and keep her stable. This caught Sombra off guard, though it had been much appreciated. To show her appreciation, she took his hands and let them trail along her body. Upwards they went to give him a slight feel of her breasts, their softness indicating that she wasn't wearing anything aside from the shirt currently. She then pushed his hands down to her pants before giving him a smile. She pulled her hands away from his to remove her top for him, those warm hands of the man continuing downwards to peel away her lower coverings at the same time.

The feel of the hot air against her bare skin was something that Sombra missed dearly. She closed her eyes to take in the feel of the room, her shirt soon on the floor at her side. Her breathing calmed for a second, though this second was followed by a loud and surprised gasp. Her pants hadn't even hit the floor before the cowboy had pushed his face forward to kiss and bite along those mocha colored hips and thighs, his scruff tickling along her more sensitive areas as she went along her stomach.

"Ahn... estás tan apresurada..." Her right hand came down to grab the cowboy by the top of the head as if to scold him though as he was pulled back, he would see nothing but a large smile on her face. Sombra pushed McCree back to where he was on the couch, crawling on top of him one leg at a time. As she stepped onto the couch, she would stand over him to give him a prime view of the shimmering slickness that awaited him between her legs. With a deep breath, she came down to her knees, taking that throbbing rod into a hand and lining it up with her entrance, grinding along that hot tip.

"Nnf, do you want it vaquero?" The cowboy panted, merely nodding.

"Tsk tsk, use your words..." Even as her breathing gave away how badly _she_ needed it, Sombra wanted to know that she had control over the cowboy.

"Nngh, come on now d-darlin'..." His hands reached out and grabbed at her hips, a smirk coming to Sombra's lips as she knew what he was trying to do. In response she pulled away from her teasing grind, lower legs now resting on the man's thighs to make it impossible for him to force her down. Leaning in, she whispered into his ear while biting it.

"Just say the magic word McCree..." She gave her voice a hint of pleading, a few hot breaths tickling his neck. McCree grit his teeth a bit, jaw clenching as he finally gave in.

"Please."

Sombra went into action almost as soon as she heard the P, her legs moving and allowing her body to come crashing down on that throbbing member. Sombra let out a cry of intense pleasure, her hands grabbing a hold of McCree's chest. Her nails dug in as she hadn't expected to get so deeply penetrated so suddenly. Her head rested against McCree's chest, panting against him as her body shivered and began to slowly gyrate on it's own.

The two didn't speak, McCree instead just pulling Sombra's head up a bit to push his lips against her suddenly. Their warm embrace became near molten as Sombra began to take control over her hips, their gyrations growing quicker and a bit more forceful along that throbbing length. McCree held on tight to the girl, allowing her to do as she pleased without worry of falling off. Every motion of her body made it harder for the cowboy to keep himself under control, the pleasure of those perfectly massaging walls like nothing he had felt before.

As their lips finally pulled away from each other for good, McCree brought hand from Sombra's hip to place it at the bottom of her back to push her upwards a bit, the girl soon sitting up straight and allowing him to give those slightly bouncing breasts the attention they deserved. His mouth latched on to each nipple for a number of seconds, tongue flicking along the nubs as they stiffened. Sombra started to let out a string of soft moans, each growing a bit higher in pitch as the cowboy began to take a slight bit of control from her. His hands pushed her upwards each time she pushed back, his grip on one of her hips tightening to let him slip her off his length ever so slightly. Thanks to this, Sombra would feel that throbbing tip pushing into her deepest walls again and again, only worsening her lusts and the sounds created from it.

After a few minutes of the slow shift in power, McCree was now the one in control. Sombra was too lost in the feelings filling her body to care at this point, instead only wanting to feel more of the cowboy. Her arms were wrapped around his neck, each hand gripping at the opposite shoulder as her head leaned against his shoulder. Her eyes were half closed, though she was unable to keep from watching herself getting repeatedly penetrated. McCree had his hands firmly on her ass, his hips bucking upwards each time she came crashing down to further drive himself inside her. The room had become one filled with the smell and sounds of sex, each thrust accented by a loud and wet slapping noise when their bodies collided.

Sombra felt a fire inside her belly, one that she hadn't felt in a very long time. She pulled her head up and groaned in McCree's ear, panting as she felt the man push inside her with increased vigor each time she gave him a sultry sound.

"C-come on vaquero... show we what you've got... don't go easy on me... I can.. take it..." Her breathing made it hard to speak, but she finally managed to sputter out her challenge, hoping that he could give her what she was so desperately craving right now.

McCree smirked to himself, having felt those walls quivering along his length for a time now and knowing that she was growing close to finishing. He gave a slight growl before pulling Sombra to him and soon splaying her along the length of the couch and getting on top of her. In this new position he took her legs and spread them widely, one of his legs hanging off and planted on the floor to help keep him steady. The man started to move his hips with an all out sort of power, the sounds of their bodies meeting only growing louder and much lewder as Sombra cut loose with her vocals upon receiving the rough change. He felt so deep inside of her, scratching itches that she had never known existed and filling her with a heat that continued to roar with life.

The couch began to creak under them as McCree felt something building inside him, knowing he didn't have much longer now. He looked down at Sombra with a look in his eye, soon getting that look in return from the caramel colored beauty. Her legs wrapped around his back, keeping him deep inside of her as her nails once against clawed down his chest and stomach needily.

"Don't... disappoint me vaquero.. or.. or.. AHN!" Sombra was cut off by a wave of pleasure suddenly crashing through her entire body, her hands smacking at the man as she didn't know what other way to react by such a sudden happening. Her groans were high pitched as her hips gyrated wildly. McCree panted hard as he grabbed the girl and held her tightly to him, her hands pushing up against him now as the man finally felt himself unable to hold back.

One final thrust inside those warm and slick walls was all it took. McCree let out a hearty grunt as his hips pushed against Sombra's, the woman letting out a satisfied groan as she felt the fire inside her being put out by the throbbing length now. She could feel the liquid warmth soothing her lusts as it leaked inside her, her mind completely blank except for holding onto the man and keeping him inside her for as long as possible. She didn't want it to end.

She then went limp, the mix of alcohol and pleasure overwhelming her now exhausted body.

McCree pulled away in a slight panic though he was soon reassured as he saw that lovely chest rising and falling softly. He was going to make sure she didn't forget this one. He slowly pulled out of her, gave her a soft kiss on the head and covered her with his duster as best he could.

"Buena noches hermosa."


	4. Back to Business

_"..sssssssombraaaaaa... ssstick to the plan..."_

Sombra's eyes shot open, the last image of her dream like a hot flash across her eyelids as she sat up in a cold sweat. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the dim lighting, darting from corner to corner in a manner that she had become accustomed to in her life. After scanning the room, her heart was finally allowed to down shift into a normal beat with her breathing slowing as well. The adrenaline surge passed, her body feeling drained as she sat up to keep herself from falling back asleep. She brought up an arm to wipe the sweat from her forehead, realizing that she had fallen asleep with her sleeves on. No wonder she was sweating. She quickly peeled the second skin off, the soft shimmer of her caramel colored arms flexing as she stretched and yawned.

Her head was still buzzing slightly, her memory only going as far as to inform her that she had drunk quite a bit last night. She finally looked down at her body, the cooler air rolling along her half naked form. She squinted a bit as she pulled up at the duster that covered her chest and stomach, smelling it even though she knew where it had came from.

"Ohhh idiota..." She mumbled to herself, the strong smell of sex stinging at her nose as she pulled off the duster. She already knew that a shower was in order, but now she was going to have to wash herself just a bit longer, with hotter water.

She stood, stumbling slightly as her legs were lagging behind her need to get under water. Gaining her proper footing, she looked around to make sure the cowboy was still here. Of course this wasn't out of fear that he had left her. It was purely to make sure that he hadn't slipped away to sell her out after getting what he had wanted. Her eyes finally locked onto the sleeping man across the room, basked in the moonlight. He had fallen asleep near a slight hole in the wall, large enough to keep watch. Her eyes slipped down his body on their own, taking in his form. She was glad he was wearing pants at least, giving her eyes a reason to stop searching.

She turned and headed for a back room that she had managed to keep away from common sight, thanks to a few levers and a wall. She looked over her shoulder as she pulled the lever to make sure the cowboy was asleep, the soft whoosh of the wall pulling away from her hitting her with a draft before she stepped inside and shut the wall behind her with a slight click.

Inside, Sombra felt truly safe and her body nearly collapsed as her mind was put at ease. She smiled, sighing deeply as she turned a few dials on the floor in front of a large pool of water. She slipped her hand inside, keeping it there until the warmth of the water was just right. Soon her entire body was slowly submerged into the pool, every inch losing tension as she embraced the warmth. She pulled a nearby laptop closer to her, flipping the thing open and quickly logging in. She bit her lip as she eyed the wall she had come through, the voice from her dream nagging at her thoughts.

"Dammit..."

Her fingers slid across the keys of the computer with intent, her personal web browser soon full of search results for "Reaper".

She had hated that name for Gabriel since she had met the man, though he had insisted upon being called it. Of course she hadn't, simply because he had told her to do so. As soon as she had looked him up and found out who he really was, the hacker had made sure to only use his real name. Some might call her out about doing such a thing, considering she only went by a code name, but she always liked getting on Gabe's nerves. He was too caught up in himself, too focused on his silly revenge story.

Sombra's eyes glanced along the headlines, easily able to siphon out references of other reapers that weren't her own. She scrolled and scrolled before he eyebrow raised at something. A highly encrypted page from some deep, dark hole of the internet. Black walls of eliminated text with only a few morsels of information were showing. The woman smirked as she cracked her fingers, wriggling them as she readied herself.

Clicking on the page led to many pop ups to open, the first form of defense it would seem. Many of these were simple filler, easily closed with clicks and a few key punches. The closer she got, the larger and more difficult the pages became to combat, though she merely giggled to herself at what she considered a warm up. Her fingers grew faster on the keys, eyes flashing from spot to spot in order to keep up with the pop ups. After a few minutes of typing, she was finally past the defenses, the page open to her prying eyes though the text was still marked out.

Sombra let a soft 'hmph' escape her lips, pulling away from the computer for a second to slowly slip deeply into the pool. She leaned her head back and allowed her hair to soak in the warmth, those attachments to the shaved side of her head soon submerged as well. She was never upset about her upgrades, though sometimes she just needed a hot soak to ease the feeling of their grip. It also helped her think, though her mind was still trying to find out what exactly she had done last night.

Why was she so worried about the details?

She shook her head as she brought it up from the water, pulling her hair back and squeezing it a bit to keep the mane from dripping all over. With her mind a bit more clear, she took to the laptop once more, eagerly typing to get those bars of classified information to show. It took a bit longer to get all of the paragraphs to show as each one seemed to have it's own coding. Not many people would bother with this sort of file covering, especially when only a few people in the world would even attempt to dive this far. She squinted a bit, an alarm going off in her head. If this information was so damned hidden, that meant that someone knew she was going to come looking for it. She should have stopped after the first few lines of texts, but she needed to know what was going on. She couldn't just ask for permission, Talon wasn't dumb. They had only given her access to a few things, with limited locks on Gabe and Amelie as if hoping that it would be enough to keep her from digging any further.

Though, was it Talon that had information about Gabe? Her eyes peered over some of the info she had already unlocked, her mind hoping it would be enough to satisfy.

 _"...shadows seen..."_

 _"...no reports from the spider..."_

 _"...video of his death..."_

Sombra bit her lip and hummed to herself. Her brain knew that what she had read was enough to make her go for broke. If Talon found out that she was getting info without their request or permission, they would come for her. Sombra couldn't help but smile as she mentally challenged them.

 _'Bring it on boys...'_

Her fingers went back to work, quicker than before. The tapping of the keys was music to her ears, screen after screen popping up as she worked. Some were brought up by her own accord, some by the added defenses that were being thrown at her from the page. Her naked form had started to float in the pool, most of her upper half now pulled out of the water in order for her to get a better posture and grip on her typing. Her tongue slipped out of her mouth as she focused, working along her lips as the typing intensified. She was close, she could feel it. Her fingers began to burn a bit from how quickly she was typing and dragging pages around in order to keep everything under control.

"..aannnndddd... boop!"

Her index finger pressed one last key in a rather proud manner, the hacker smiling widely as the entire page was soon revealed to her prying eyes. She scoured the page as quickly as she possibly could, shifting through the boring sections of whether the lines were secure and who was all watching, blah blah blah. Line after line filled with nothing but boring business talk, which she could read later if it really meant something to her.

Finally, after about a page and a half of boring babble, her eyes stopped and began to pay attention to an oddly placed conversation. It seemed to be relevant to what she had been glossing over, yet at the same time, didn't belong. Perhaps this was why it was so heavily fortified?

* * *

[TB]: Any news on our re-undead friend?

[LB]: That depends, what's it worth to you?

[TB]: You already know that answer, or at least your account does.

[LB]: Oh yes, the dirty money of corporate greed, paid to chase all the shadows seen.

[TB]: We could easily just have you killed and move on, if you don't have anything.

[LB]: So touchy. Then again, who would you get to kill me? I've heard you're lacking in the "trusting agents" department right about now.

[TB]: Just because there have been no reports from the spider doesn't mean she's gone rouge. We didn't program her to allow such things.

[LB]: Whatever you say friend. But in a show of good sport, I'll share some information with you. We have reports that there have been shadowy figures, possibly all the same entity, creeping up around my neck of the woods. My agents haven't seen anything themselves, save for one. Poor guy can't seem to talk though, what with the broken jaw and all.

[TB]: We warned you about the dangers. He might be on the verge of true death but that man has been through enough hell to take everyone with him if he tries hard enough. Though after the videos of his death were retrieved from the Numbani museum, I don't see how he is already showing back up. We tried to kill him before, his wishes after a few horrible missions. It was a good few weeks before he merely reappeared as if nothing had happened.

[LB]: Ooh, sounds like our boy must really have something he wants to live for. Perhaps our other mutual acquaintance could lend us a bit of help?

[TB]: She was never trusted to begin with and we both know that she isn't one to follow an order unless it suits her. That being said, after the Numbani business, she left with only a note on a door. She could be anywhere.

[LB]: Oh how little you truly know. Why, my little birds came back just this evening with reports of a very familiar sounding woman who just happened to roll into town and started trouble. Perhaps you just aren't trying hard enough to look?

[TB]: Considering we don't keep each other's locations known, I'm not going to comment on that. But if it happens to be true, you know the stipulations.

[LB]: I always know your location. Remember that the next time you try to boss me around.

END OF CHAT

* * *

Sombra's mouth was slightly agape as she finished reading the chat log, her mind swimming with thoughts and ideas on what exactly was going on. She knew that TB was Talon Base, as there had been a few times they had contacted her through this handle with mission details. Though who LB was, she had no idea. She began to run through a list of names that could match LB, though nobody stood out right away. She brought up a new page, starting to search and scroll for answers, finding none that seemed correct. Just a bunch of names of people with small criminal records and the like. Nothing that stood out as someone who would be high enough in power to joke around with Talon in such a way.

Her mind then shifted to the fact that whoever it was had said they had SEEN Gabriel, or at least, they assumed it was him. Sombra could testify that the man was always in a rather foul mood and the thought of being unable to die after what she had seen him go through was enough to piss anyone off. But why was he coming back? Also, where would this all have been? Without knowing who this LB was, Sombra couldn't exactly find their 'neck of the woods' as they had put it. Adding to all of this was the fact of how high security had been on the page. Sombra's eyes widened as she realized that it must have been some sort of plant. She suddenly shut the laptop and pulled out the battery, the thing dying within seconds.

The slight spike of motion caused her to breath heavily, the water she was still submerged in a tad cool along her form now. She took a deep breath to try and calm down, comforting herself with things she knew to be true.

She was in her untraceable hideout.

Inside an even more untraceable room that only she knew about.

Using so many different firewalls and other methods to scramble any signal that could possibly be used.

She was fine.

She was untouchable.

She was... alone.

Her eyes drifted to the wall, staring at it as a mental image played in her head. The door opening to find the cowboy standing there, that stupid smile on his face as he nodded at her to reassure her that it was alright.

She shook her head, a slight grimace on her lips. She didn't need him to help her. She wasn't in trouble.

She pulled herself from the water, the now warm air kissing along her soft skin as she dried off as best she could. Pulling the lever once more, the door opened and allowed Sombra to peek out into the darkness. She saw the cowboy laying there, still as could be. She slipped from the room, pulling it closed behind her. She made her way to a closet and pulled it open, opting for a short crop top and some form fitting bottoms that came to her knees. She grabbed a newer pair of her sleeves, the second skin pulling over her arms, hands, and fingers perfectly. She cooed to herself as she felt a slight buzz along her moist skin, her controls coming alive. She tested each hand out by bringing up her basic screens and wheeling through them before heading back to the couch she had woken up on and plopping down. She made sure to sit on the opposite side though, knowing what might be covering the other cushions.

A soft sigh came from her lips as she looked over the cowboy, his chest rising and falling softly as the moon now covered his head and chest. His hat was lowered to cover his face, an odd thing to be sure considering he could have just opted to not sleep in a bright spot. She shrugged it off as just one of those vaquero things, her eyes turning to her hologram screens.

After what she had just gone through, she needed something easy to look up. Something that had been eating at her since the man had walked into that bar and helped fend off those thugs. Her mind filled with various stories behind the man across the room from her. Was he really all he said he was? Or would he turn out to be another faker trying to get close to her in order to sell her out? With what she had just learned, her paranoia was at a slightly higher level than usual. She took a deep breath and focused on her hands.

"Let's see what you're hiding vaquero..."


	5. Up and at 'em

The dim lighting around Sombra only accented the brightness that splashed across her face as she entered the name that McCree had given her, more than ready to see an empty page or filler information for people all over the known planet. The results she actually received from the search made her eyes widen a slight bit before looking up and focusing on the sleeping man. The very first result had caught her in a very strange place, his highlighted name flashing on her screen.

A wanted poster.

Sombra came back to look over the poster, making double sure that this was in fact the correct person. She was quickly relieved to see that this poster in particular was rather dated. With the shock subsiding, Sombra shook her head at how quickly she had gotten startled. She should have known that the poster wasn't current, as the cowboy looked far too young to be the same one she saw before her now. Staring into those younger eyes, Sombra couldn't help but feel as though she could see something hidden behind the black and white pupils. McCree had a smirk on his face, cocky and stupid emanating from the look. He was mostly clean shaven, though as she looked to the bottom of the bust, she could tell that his arm was different. It was actual flesh.

Sombra began to flip through multiple sources of information using her gloved fingers, the small purple screens floating in the open space around her like pieces to a puzzle that remained unsolved. Her mind was whirring with thoughts on what the cowboy could have been brought in for, though the answer was quickly given thanks to a record of some old news sites. None of them personally mentioned McCree, though 'Deadlock Gang' was in big bold lettering on most of them. Sombra found herself unable to pull away from the news sources, eyes flipping through every last detail of what the gang had done over what seemed to be a mighty fine run.

"For such a private girl, you sure don't give people the same respect."

Sombra's heart leaped from her chest to her throat as she heard that cold voice. Her large, glimmering eyes looked upwards quickly to find the cowboy staring her down, still merely laying along the windowsill. While she couldn't make out his eyes thanks to the light from her screens, she could feel his stare boring into her head. She didn't know how to respond, though as the silence lingered she began to tell herself that she had simply been hearing things. She was probably just still nervous from earlier..

"If you keep diggin', you're not gonna like what you find."

The broken silence caused Sombra's stomach to drop. The confirmation that McCree was indeed awake and staring at her made the woman feel like a child being scorned. A small part of her felt as though she should stop but instead she sneered a bit, blowing off his warning.

"When all you know about a man is his name, a girl gets curious. Not my fault, nor my problem."

McCree rose from his laying position, the moon leaving his body and making it a bit harder to see as the darkness enveloped him. Sombra felt her heart racing as she heard each soft meeting of his feet and the floor beneath, his presence soon towering over her. Her eyes trailed up his body, though her head did not rise to meet his gaze. She would not give him the satisfaction of looking down on her.

They stared at each other for a few good seconds, McCree's eyes looking both fiery and scared at the same time. Sombra knew the look, as she had seen it in her own eyes from time to time. When someone got too close to something that could hurt. She was honestly starting to wonder why he was so worried about her finding out about the gang. So what? She had helped plenty of gangs over the years, though she had never pledged true allegiance to any of them. All of them were too short sighted. Rob this, shoot those certain people up, blah blah blah. Their stare was concluded with a soft sigh from McCree.

"Gabriel."

Sombra raised an eyebrow. Gabriel?

"What?" Her tone showed that he had piqued her interest, though she did her best to not seem TOO eager.

"That's somethin' we have in common darlin'. Gabriel 'Reaper' Reyes."

Sombra felt her fingers twitch, wanting to start searching right away as to what the man was talking about. How did he know Gabe? She hadn't read that far into him just yet but was clenching her jaw in order to keep from smiling, knowing a butt load of free information was about to be sent her way. Maybe even enough to start looking for Gabe before Talon and company got him in their sights.

"Well vaquero, after what I assume you got to do last night, I'd say you owe me one." Her lips finally broke into that devilish smile, leaning her head back just enough to flash the smile up at the man, hoping for a blush.

McCree held his composure as long as he could, but he simply couldn't resist breaking into a half smile as he looked over the woman. The way the small screens covered her face in light seemed to accent all the best parts of her face, her dark pupils swimming in the light as her smile melted his cold facade. He took a deep breath and ran his right hand along his face before plopping down next to the woman, stretching out as he laid along the side of the couch that Sombra had avoided.

"Well then, where should I begin? Guess you already know about my youthful years as a desperado?"

Sombra quickly pulled her fingers together, closing all her screens. The light quickly vanished, both of their eyes adjusting to the once again dim lighting of the place. Sombra scooted around, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around her knees, head resting as her eyes stayed glued to the cowboy after nodding.

"Alright then. Well, my old gang used to do a lot of illegal stuff, as one would assume from a gang. We made a good name for ourselves out there, the US using every and all of their power to find any of us and pin us down to something or another. Problem was, they failed many a time. So what happens when you have a gang that even the US military can't cull?"

The question seemed rhetorical, Sombra mulling it over as she waited for an answer.

"You call in someone that has higher authority. You call in someone that can do pretty much anything they please." McCree began to stare off into the past as he spoke, the next sentence seeming to carry a bit more weight.

"You call in Overwatch."

Sombra felt her eyebrows raise at this, surprised that she hadn't seen anything about what she assumed was a big battle between Overwatch and this gang. She knew a good bit about the organization, having had some first hand contact with it's former leader and a few of the other members only a few weeks back. Her brows then furrowed as she realized that McCree had been part of Overwatch back in the day. She'd seen bits of pictures with a cowboy looking fellow in them, though the pieces had just now snapped together in her mind.

"But wait vaquero, weren't you...?"

"Hold on now there darlin', gettin' ahead of the story." He snickered a bit, coming out of his wistful staring before continuing.

"Now, Overwatch was a bit different back in the day. Not only were they praised for just walking the earth, they had their hands in damn near every major operation in the world. So for a multi-national organization to have to deal with a problem like our little gang? That meant we were doing something to piss off the right people. Hell, we knew that the US had called in the biggest guns they could, but it didn't stop us. We felt invincible, like kings."

McCree sat up a bit, reaching into his poncho and pulling out a cigar before striking a match against the floor and lighting it. He took a few drags as he extinguished the flame, the smoke slowly rising to the ceiling before a large cloud was blown upwards as he breathed out. His posture was a bit more relaxed as he smoked, the need for the nasty habit apparent.

"That's what got us. We had a few people who got real paranoid, started to lose their cool when we were movin' shipments. Some of 'em wanted to start pullin' out of deals. Looking back, maybe we should've. But at that time, we were all young and dumb. Just wanted to make that money to keep up the stupid way of life we'd gotten accustomed to. In the end, that greed is what got the better of us."

McCree took a long drag off the cigar, slowly blowing the smoke out, making sure to keep it away from Sombra as best he could.

"We had a deal in the works, something massive. Seemed legit through and through. Some of the highest grade weaponry and ammo you could get your hands on, even by military standards. Our meeting point was some small ass diner in the middle of bum fuck nowhere. Sketchy as hell considering we didn't know it too well, but we were sure that it's location meant we were in the clear."

McCree blew some air from his nose in a noiseless chuckle, shaking his head as he looked back at the stupid mistake.

"First thing I remember is the coffee tasted like boiled dirt. Second thing was the sound of being surrounded by the fanciest damn soldiers we had ever seen. We knew right away how we'd been outsmarted. We weren't dealing with the military, no no. These guys were something different. Their leader, blonde and blue eyed like a damn Aryan dream. Took charge and made sure that my buddies were hauled off right quick. The 2nd in command, our boy Gabe, was the opposite. He looked between us all, as if judging us personally in a way. He stopped at me, before offering me his hand and a dark smirk. I'll never forget the look."

While Sombra didn't know the look personally, she had seen Gabe's face once or twice. While she had only recently seen what his real face had looked like, she did manage to picture him smiling. It seemed strange, even in her mind.

"So this man, Reyes. Tells me that he had been watching me for some time now, watching how I worked in all aspects. Said he saw potential in me and would hate to see it rot away in a prison. All I have to do is work for him, for something he called 'Blackwatch'. Now of course I took him up on the offer and I'd honestly take it to this day. It might not have ended the best for us all, but I'd rather have dealt with what I did than still be sitting in a prison somewhere like the rest of my old buddies."

Sombra nodded along, understanding the feeling of wanting to be free, even when it came with the price of dealing with a lot of shit. She was finding herself understanding the cowboy more than she originally thought. Who knew that Gabe could do anything positive.

"I take it that Gabe must've given you a similar offer? From our little bit of time together I can tell you ain't much of a team player of your own accord."

Sombra scoffed as if she were hurt by the words, waving her hand at the man with a sly grin.

"Oh come now vaquero, you don't think I would help Gabe out of the goodness of my heart?!"

McCree chuckled and shook his head at the response.

"Guess I could be wrong, though it does make me wonder. Why did you tag along with him and the spider? Wait, don't tell me. The witty banter?"

Sombra mulled the question for a few seconds, her first instinct to just blow the question off or give some sort of BS answer. Though as she looked over the cowboy, she figured that he deserved at least a small helping of truth.

"They just help me get what I want."

"That being?"

"Told you this already vaquero, information."

"Info 'bout what? Seems you already got enough ways of finding things out that people don't want you to know."

"There's always new information out there vaquero. Always some new player who thinks that... how would you say it... their shit doesn't stink?"

McCree laughed as he heard the smooth accent of the woman use such language.

"I guess that would be one way of putting it. So do I get the lone honor of being worth your time, or are ya cheatin' on me with someone more interestin'?"

Sombra stared the man down, biting her lip out of instinct and giving away the fact that whatever she said next would probably be a lie.

"No.. I woke up, decided that I didn't want to be covered in your messy poncho and got dressed, then plopped down right here and looked you up. And here we are."

She didn't take her sight from the man, his dark eyes looking her over in an inquisitive manner. He didn't seem to be buying it for a minute. Had he been awake the whole time?

"Only problem with your story there darlin', is that your hair is awful wet."

Shit. She had completely forgotten about her damned hair. She thought the heat of the place would have dried it a bit quicker and in the heat of the moment, she had only remembered a few details of what she had actually done before coming back out here.

"That being said, I don't see why you'd lie about taking a shower, unless you were doin' something you don't want me to know about during said shower. So I see one of two options. You either REALLY don't want me to wash myself off, or there's something you ain't tellin' me."

Sombra swallowed hard as she chewed on her lip a bit, hiding the habit with her knees as her eyes finally left the man's face. How had she let such a thing slip? If it hadn't been for that small little thing, he wouldn't have known a damn thing. She took a few deep breaths before murmuring.

"Gabriel."

McCree raised an eyebrow at the name.

"What about him?"

"He's supposed to be dead."

"Honey, I know that much. I still have contacts in Overwatch, kept me up to date on events they deem worth my time. Angela spoke highly of your skill by the way."

Sombra's eyes flared as McCree divulged information about the events in Numbani, the image of that blonde doctor shooting Gabe flashing in the woman's mind. She clenched her jaw and swallowed hard.

"That was my fault. Not Gabe's."

McCree shook his head and sighed softly.

"From what I heard, Gabe had lost himself to something that nobody could control. How it ended was the only way darlin'."

Sombra felt her fingers dig into her palms, the nails attached the gloves scratching along her skin.

"I put it in him."

"What?"

"The AI that took over Gabe. I put it in him. I gave him the necessary ability and then let him have it. He didn't mean to do that stuff. I didn't think it would be so bad, thought I could possibly control it if need be. But it wasn't enough."

"Well, sometimes we make mistakes. Lord knows I made a lot of 'em in my time. You can't beat yourself up about it. That's what keeps you up at night, wondering about every last thing that has ever happened in your life. What if you hadn't done this, or that. While I won't say that everything happens for a reason, you can't let things you can't control keep you from living your life."

The cowboy sat up a bit, a new smile on his face.

"Just look at me. Was a punk with a gun who didn't know any better. Now? I've seen the world, it's fire, and come through the other side with only a few scars. I coulda stopped at any point when the going got tough, let the fear of my mistakes take over and called it quits. But here I am, squatting in some random location with a woman that could've killed me in my sleep if she wanted. Needless to say, I'm glad I was sent to that bar."

Sombra's eyes squinted as she looked at McCree.

"Sent?"

McCree's face, even in the darkness, was easily seen going white.

"What do you mean vaquero?" Sombra's tone had a bite to it.

"I, uh.. well.." He was stammering now, trying to find a path to take that didn't lead to him getting his face beat in. Sombra merely stared him down, one of her eyebrow's twitching slightly as her anger began to rise. McCree took a deep breath and began to explain himself as best he could, as quickly as he could.

"Well now, remember when I said I still had Overwatch contacts? Angela, the saint she is, sorta kept tabs on you. For your own good, I promise."

Sombra's look didn't change for the better.

"Well, after she had to take care of Gabriel, she knew that the spider would just crawl back to Talon. But she had a different idea about you. She didn't know what you would do, but she wanted to make sure that you were okay. She's dealt with Gabriel longer than both of us have and knows what sort of effect he can have on people. In his own way, he's a great leader. But he can sometimes instill the wrong senses in people. She didn't want you going off and getting revenge in his name or something like that. She has her ways, like you do, to find people. Said you had gotten a bit sloppy too, so since I was the closest to this lovely place, she sent me."

Sombra was breathing a bit quickly now, though the breaths were deep. Had she really lost her touch that much? She had told herself that it wasn't that big a deal when Gabe had died. So what right? But hearing all this, how easily someone like that blonde doctor had kept tabs on her, it made her sick to her stomach. If she could do it, who else had been able to?

Sombra's question was answered by the sound of a gun and a large electric discharge going off near the entrance of the hideout. Some loud and pissed off yelling from multiple sources was heard after the noises ended, with Sombra soon on her feet and looking around desperately for her gun. She was in flight mode now, she had to get out. She had to make sure they didn't get her, whoever it was. She was soon grabbed by the cowboy, kept still and forced to look into his eyes.

"Woah there, slow down darlin'. We ain't in trouble just yet. Take a breath. You said they couldn't get in right?"

Sombra clenched her jaw as she pushed away from the man, scowling.

"You think we can fight them off? We don't even know how many there are! Unless your arm has a gun hidden inside it, we need to LEAVE."

After saying this, she saw a slight glint of her gun, scooping it up as she brought up her screens with her other hand. The electricity had managed to zap the one camera she had outside the door, though at the street she could see a few bodies down the side street. They were all rather armed and dressed in a manner that hid their faces.

"Mierda..."

"That don't sound good.."

"Gang. Though not one I recognize. Too bright, even in black and white."

"So we got an all white wearing gang out there? How loaded?"

"We're gonna find out soon..."

"What?"

The cowboy barely got the word out before the front door was blown down, smoke flooding into the place quickly.

"Ah shit..." McCree groaned before a small clanking noise filled both of their ears. Across the floor scooted a strange looking grenade.

As it detonated, the sound of bullets pierced the air loudly and tore everything inside to shreds.


	6. Breaking the Broken

The ring of gunshots and shells hitting the floor had ended only a few seconds before. The hideout had been ripped to shreds, the walls riddled with bullet holes as the smell of gunpowder overtook the small area. The gang members stared into the large dark room, eyes peeled for any sign of movement as they slowly crept inside, single file and watching each other's blind spots.

"Clea..." The first member of the line was cut off by the sound of shuffling. All four of the attackers focused on the source of the noise, their barrels fixated on different points of the now pitiful looking couch. Their breathing was slow, focused, eyes trained down the sights of their rifles as the line leader went to take a single step closer.

The sound of metal on the floor was followed by a sudden appearance of a different grenade, sliding out from under the couch.

"¡Grana-" A sudden burst of light filled the room as if the sun itself had come to visit. The well trained eyes had no time to shut before the explosion took their sight from them, ears ringing as well.

With the attackers defenseless, McCree jumped up from behind the couch, revolver spinning around his finger rather flashily before he caught it and began to hammer away. Shot after shot rang out, the fire from the revolver reinstating the smell of gunpowder. The first three shots found their marks in the attackers heads, the leader having his backup taken from him before he would feel the hot sting of a shot in each of his kneecaps.

As the flash bang's effects settled the last living member of the attacking gang members found himself on his back, held up by the slumped bodies of his own men. The first thing his eyes found themselves taking in was the sight of a shirtless man aiming a gun between his eyes. The wounded man grit his teeth, hand still gripping the trigger of his own gun and waiting for a moment to bring the weapon up to exact some quick revenge.

Out of nowhere, the man found his jaw being busted by a woman flinging herself from his left, the clenched fist finding it's mark and loosening a few teeth.

Sombra bared her teeth as she stomped on the man's fist, forcing him to release his weapon, the heavy thunk of his being disarmed followed by another solid thunk of fist meeting that possibly broken jaw.

"¡Bastardo!" Sombra growled, her fist coming back for another punch before being tightly gripped by McCree.

"That's enough darlin'. Don't waste the energy on him."

Sombra pulled away from the man's grip before she stood, breathing heavily as she looked over the wounded man. She wanted, no she NEEDED to hurt him more. He and his goons had ruined something she had worked on for so very long. She was down a place to hide, down a place where she could truly relax. Apart from her knowledge and her own company, that's all she had. She resisted the urge to spit on the man, reminding herself that she was above him in many ways. Her fiery eyes shot back to McCree, glaring at him and making it hard to deny her. Behind the fire was hurt, her pride kept her from showing it, but the cowboy knew what this place had meant to her. It was only fair that they find out why this had happened.

"Alright partner, listen up." McCree made his way past Sombra and put the revolver back to the gang member's head, pulling the hammer back into a ready position.

"There's a real old quote that I've been dying to use for some time now, but I think I'll cut to the chase. I got one bullet left, and I don't think you'll live after it. But I'd be more than willing to let you crawl your sorry ass outta here if you tell me and my lovely lady friend here why in the hell you went and done something like this."

The thug's eyes looked back and forth between Sombra and McCree, a wide and bloody grin coming to his face.

"You gonna try and torture me vaquero? All for some pretty little whore who can't take care of hers-"

Another solid punch to the jaw came from the right as Sombra decked the shit talking man, her fists grabbing a hold of his shirt and jerking him around a little bit.

"You wanna know what I'm gonna do to you bastardo? I'm gonna make sure that every single person you have ever loved sees their world coming down in flames. Madre? Padre? Hermano y hermana? All of them will know what it's like to have nothing. I will personally make sure that each and every one of them ends up being below the dirt. I will watch them beg, I will watch them starve. Then I'll make sure they know my face and I will make sure that they know that the reason their lives went to shit, is because YOU fucked them over."

The words coming from Sombra's mouth were like molten magma, each and every threat sounding more ludicrous but something told McCree that the woman would do it given her current mood. Of course what scared him most about this was that it seemed like something Gabriel would do. From what Angela had said, Sombra wasn't the type to pick fights like this, to threaten. As McCree pulled the venom spitting woman from her prey, he pulled her to the side, taking her head into his hands and forcing her to look into his eyes to try and calm her down.

"Listen to me darlin', while I am sure that you could do all the things you just said, is it worth it? I get it, you lost-"

"Do you get it McCree? Do you really?" She pushed his hands away from her face, a snarl coming from her.

"Have you had your home shot to shit 'just because'? Haven't you ever gotten screwed over and wanted to get back at someone?"

McCree was pushed away as a few memories came to mind, his hand getting a hold of the woman's arm before she was allowed to go back to her tactics.

"Yeah I have, who hasn't? But you seen what that sorta life did to Gabriel, nothing but revenge..."

Sombra stopped, clenching her jaw as she was faced with the hard truth, her heart skipping a beat as a cold wave flew through her body quickly, though the fire wasn't so quick to be extinguished. Not this time.

"Gabriel lost his focus. I don't."

Sombra once again pulled away from the cowboy's grip, this time bringing her foot up and stomping on the man's chest as she looked over him with a scowl.

"You're gonna do the vaquero said, or else I will make sure that you don't die until you watch me destroy every last person in your life."

The man merely started to laugh, crazily almost. His eyes were calm though as they looked at the threatening woman, boring into her head.

"La luz brillante limpia todo."

Sombra raised an eyebrow, before pushing her foot into one of the bullet wounds that adorned the man's kneecaps.

"That didn't sound like an explanation to me."

The man simply smiled and laughed again, laying back as the pressure on his wound seemed to do little to phase him. Sombra furrowed her brow as she stomped on the man's knee, which managed to grab the man's attention, causing him to flinch.

"The light's brightness will find you and cleanse you. You and your murderous vaquero friend. No shadow is able to escape, nor fight. You will come and you will be judged for your actions."

Sombra growled, growing tired of this rambling. She punched the man square in the nose before grabbing him by the collar and throwing him to the floor below her. Her foot came to his throat as she brought up a set of her small screens. Her fingers connected to make a small screen, moving around a little before the screen captured the man's face. Sombra applied a bit of pressure to the man's throat as she leaned back up and went to work.

Her fingers started to work quickly as McCree looked on, his eyes catching sight of his poncho, now riddled with holes that would take some time to patch up. He shook his head a bit, that had been his favorite poncho.

The screens flashed and chirped as result after result brought back nothing. The man's face, even after Sombra had fixed a bit of the bruising, didn't match anything in the databases. Sombra was starting to grow weary of this, her patience getting even more thin. She huffed as she continued to search, red screen after red screen flashing in her face.

"Why can't I-"

"Having some trouble there?" The man choked out a laugh, his throat being pressured further after he spoke.

Sombra scowled as she didn't give up just yet, though her efforts came back with nothing no matter how hard or long she continued to search.

She closed the screens and stared at the man below her now, eyes searching over him for some sort of clue that she had to be missing.

"How are you nowhere? How are you nobody? HOW?!" She screamed at him, heart racing. She was tired of these games, she was tired of this man in general. Her foot pushed itself further upon that throat, the man trying to clutch Sombra's foot to push her off of him, the loss of fresh air making his face redder by the second. Sombra stared on, knowing full well what she was doing, but wanting to do it. She wanted to watch the man turn blue, to suffer until his very last moment. She was so focused on his chest, feeling his heartbeat starting to skyrocket in panic. She could almost taste his fear.

"SOMBRA!"

McCree grabbed the woman by her hips and threw her to the shredded couch, the man gasping and choking on the sudden supply of air in his lungs. He coughed multiple times as the cowboy stood over Sombra with a scowl.

"You're done here."

Sombra bit her lip and clenched her jaws as she was talked down to by the man, the rush of adrenaline plummeting as she realized just how close she had come to choking the man out. Her eyes fell to the floor, before her head was in her hands.

"The light... cleanses... us all..." The soft choking gasps of the injured gang member were like a hot iron prodding at Sombra, his nonsensical muttering making it hard to keep calm.

"He takes us in... renews us..."

Sombra raised her head at this bit. He? She looked up at McCree, the cowboy having heard it as well. He crouched down to the muttering man and prodded at his chest with the barrel of his still loaded gun.

"Who does this? Takes you in and... 'renews' you?"

The man smiled and looked to the ceiling, his smile soft. He was fading, the bullet wounds and the near death choking seemingly too much on the damaged body.

"Luz... brillante..."

With one last soft sigh, the man's eyes went blank, head cocking to one side and staring creepily at Sombra before McCree forced the eyelids shut with a swiping hand motion. The cowboy raised back to his feet.

"That mean anything to you?"

"Bright light."

"Think he saw **_the_** light? Just muttering more nonsense?"

Sombra shook her head, as those last few words from the man had clicked something on inside her head. She opened her screens back up, the hacked conversation being brought up quickly. Her fingers focused on the initials that had puzzled her not an hour before.

"L.B." She spoke softly, poking each letter and dragging it to where they were beside each other, her fingers quickly typing in the dying words from the man.

"So... exactly what is this and what does it mean?" McCree looked at the woman, confusion on his face. Sombra realized she hadn't had the time to explain what she had been up to before their friends arrived.

"This is a chat between Talon and our lovely bright light fellow. They're talking about..." Sombra trailed off, eyes drifting upwards to the hole in the wall where the entrance to her hideout had sat just a few minutes before.

A pitch black figure stood across the street, two red glowing dots floating about eye level. The figure didn't seem to be soild, but Sombra knew what it was.

"Gabriel."

Sombra's body went into action before she had even thought her plan through. What did she expect to get from this? She didn't even know if what she saw was real, or just something her mind was making up from the adrenaline. Perhaps even a manifestation from how close she had gotten to killing that man? No, he had to be real. He had come to help her, or to get help from her?

Her feet were on the floor and running towards the floating black figure, footsteps echoing through the alleyway as McCree yelled after her. She couldn't tell what he said, her heart beat in her ears as her eyes focused on the figure, keeping herself from blinking in case it went away.

Her foot was about to hit street before she was grabbed and pulled away, to her own dismay. Her vision was obscured by both McCree's head and cars that continued to pass. The figure seemed to come closer, a lamp post above illuminating the figure.

It _was_ Gabriel, those red eyes staring at Sombra as his clawed hand clutched his chest, darkness oozing from his body. Sombra felt an overwhelming dread as she kicked and punched McCree to let her go, shouting for him to look across the street at what she was seeing.

Gabriel was right there, he needed help. She was suddenly against a wall, face pulled away to look at McCree before he pushed his lips against hers forcefully. Her mind went blank, eyes closing for a few seconds before she realized what was going on, hand coming up to slap the cowboy as hard as she could muster.

"Don't be getting fresh with me vaquero! Gabriel is..." Her head snapped back to across the street, the alleyway completely pitch black and empty.

"He was... just..."

McCree stood there, cheek red and sore as he swallowed a bit hard. They needed to get out of here, especially if Sombra was starting to see things that weren't there. He took her hand and began to drag her along an opposite alleyway, Sombra's head finally pulling away to see where they were going.

"What are you doing vaquero? Where are we going?"

"I don't know but we can't stay here. They obviously knew where to find you, so we have to make it harder for us to be found. That might mean getting lost ourselves."

Sombra hated the idea, even if it made a slight shred of sense. She took a few breaths to calm herself.

"We'll need to find you some new clothing then. A shirtless cowboy with a robot arm is sure to draw some attention."

McCree smirked and nodded before pulling Sombra a bit further up, waving his hand in front of him to show that he was giving her the lead.

"By all means darlin', lead the way."


	7. Perfect (Coincidental) Planning

The duo made their way through the long shadows that covered the streets as the sun began to slowly make it's way into the sky. The orange hue made everything seem a bit more rustic, Sombra's eyes flashing as she flicked them around. While she was familiar with this area, it had been quite some time since she had even considered coming back around. The stores she knew were either replaced or gone completely. The small town hadn't modernized by any means, but with different faces came the trouble to having to try and smooth talk strangers. McCree pointed out a few places as they went by, considering he was the one who was actually in need of clothing. Sombra continued to shake her head at each suggestion, the fear of walking into a trap getting the best of her.

She was also doing her best to waste time, in case she saw Gabriel again. She knew the chances were slimming as the sun was pulled further into the sky, but if he was hurt then maybe he would get desperate enough to show himself. The worry filling her head was worsened by the thought that they could be attacked at any time, the town having little in means of law. She made sure to keep them close to the stores and away from as many people as they could get, not wanting to make them easy prey.

She finally pulled them into a second hand shop that seemed familiar to her, the smell of moth balls and dust rather unique. She continued to watch their backs and everywhere else, even as she pulled McCree towards the men's section before letting him loose with a slight hand wave as if she was shooing him.

"Alright, well then I'll be... uh, over here..." McCree pointed but quickly pulled his hand back as Sombra wasn't paying a bit of attention to him. He sighed and began to cycle through the shirts, finally finding the section in his size. The smells coming off the clothes ranged from dead person's closet to dead person's body, the cowboy finally finding a nice plaid button up shirt. He quickly slipped it on and buttoned right to the bottom of his throat, flexing and stretching in various ways to make sure it would allow him to move without constraint. He smiled and nodded, glad to finally feel decent once more.

Sombra on the other hand, had been searching every single rack of clothes, making sure that there was nothing hiding out of sight that could lead anyone to them. Her eyes flicked along people's heads as they passed, the gun under her jacket starting to feel a bit heavier. She took a few deep breaths, closing her eyes and just listening for a little. She could hear the soft steps of the cowboy nearing, his boots vastly different compared to many of the either barefoot or slipper wearing people that filled the shop.

Sombra turned around right as McCree walked up on her, her eyes looking him over as if inspecting his choice in apparel. She raised an eyebrow, fingers slowly dragging along the plaid, those sharp glove nails tugging at the buttons as if to test them.

"Hmm, guapo vaquero." She let a small smile escape before turning back around and walking towards the exit.

"You don't want nothin' darlin'?" McCree followed quickly and while Sombra was covered properly, he felt the need to offer.

"Thanks cowboy, but I enjoy not smelling like death and moth balls."

McCree chuckled and nodded as they passed the pay counter, quickly putting down a much larger bill than was necessary before they made their way out of the place.

"Alright then, so I'm back to my devilish good looks. Where to now?"

Sombra looked back and forth up the street, her mind racing with what their next step should be. She needed to find who attacked them, take the fight to them. If she couldn't find the info on her own, she needed somewhere that had the information easily.

"We're going to see Talon."

McCree nearly let a loud yell loose, but settled for spinning the woman around and showing her the rather outraged look on his face.

"Yeah yeah I know, Talon is everything you're against, ya goody two shoes. But if I can't find info about this gang out on my own, then I need to find someone who has it. As of this moment, they are the only ones who would have that sort of information to take. In case you forgot vaquero, that's what I do best."

McCree sighed and shook his head, wiping the sweat from his brow and readjusting his hat.

"Well how in the world do you plan on doing that? I'm sure they won't let either of us just waltz on in the front door."

Sombra grinned as she began to walk down an alley, waving McCree on to follow.

"Don't worry so much vaquero, they'll let me in..."

McCree ducked into the alley behind the woman, her tone making him question the reliability of her plan.

"It ain't you I'm worried abo-"

The man was cut off by the feeling of those soft lips once again pressing against his own. Sombra leaned up and put more effort into the embrace as McCree's instincts took over, his arms wrapping around those lovely hips to keep the beauty as close as he could. He hadn't had much time to really think about what had happened last night, though he knew he wouldn't consider it a mistake by any means. He was sure the woman probably felt different even as she continued to press herself against him, soon pushing him against the wall of the alley before pulling away from their heated kiss.

"Heh... such a good kisser, I almost feel bad for having to do this..." Sombra purred softly as one of her hands slipped up against McCree's body.

"Doin' wha-"

A large zap of electricity flew through the cowboy's form, his limbs jerking and contorting slightly. It was over in a split second, the cowboy's head slumping over and resting on Sombra's shoulder, her arms coming up to catch him before slowly helping him to the ground.

Looking over his passed out form, Sombra made sure that he was at least alive. She felt a pulse and nodded softly, before pulling out a small tool she had swiped before they had left her place. She rolled the cowboy's sleeve up, revealing that robotic arm and looking over it before finding a large enough gap between areas. With a small smile she took the tool and wedged the slim barrel into his arm. With a single push of the plunger, she would hear a powerful bust of air followed by a ever so slight _tink_ noise. She pulled the tool from the man's arm before pulling up a screen. A soft blip appeared on the lit up square, repeating it's presence every few seconds.

Sombra nodded and was about to put the screen away when she noticed a second blip on the screen. Her eyes clung to it as it was within radius and growing closer.

She pulled out her gun quickly, making sure it was loaded before spinning around and watching the entrance to the alleyway. There had only been a handful of people she had used that little trick on and only the cowboy should have been here.

The thought of who she wanted it to be made itself known inside her head, the white skull a blinding thought.

Sombra shook her head, trying to stay focused as she heard steps, though not from in front of her. They were... above? She looked at the screen quickly, the blip suddenly dropping from a higher position. Sombra didn't wait for it to meet the same level as her. She spun to face her backside, lowering herself in case she was shot at. Her gun pointed into the air, Sombra's eyes focused in on the form in front of her.

"Hola, Araña."

"Bonjour, ombre."

The thin, purple skinned woman looked far more strange than usual to Sombra. Perhaps it was because she was wearing what appeared to be a burlap sack along her body, only her face able to be seen at the current point in time. Sombra raised up slowly, gun still fixated on the assassin. If she had learned one thing, it was that the spider never showed up in the wrong place.

"Here to kill me Amelie? Talon send you?"

Widow didn't speak for a few seconds, her glare focused on the passed out cowboy that now laid at her feet. Her hands slipped from the baggy suit, the flawless skin a hard contrast to where it had come from. She pulled off her hood, hair down along her back as those cold eyes finally decided to find their way to Sombra and her gun.

"If I were here to kill you, we wouldn't be speaking." Tone and composure perfectly rehearsed, totally cold and unfeeling. The spider hadn't changed. Though she seemed a bit.. forced.

"Then what do you want? Why are you here? Last time I checked, this place was a little too 'uncultured' for a girl like you."

Widow stared Sombra down, her face not changing from it's blank stare. She sighed as if Sombra were already annoying her with the questions.

"I'm not here to kill you, but Talon did send me. They've summoned you and need to know that you are still with us."

Sombra raised an eyebrow. This was almost too convenient.

"So now they care? What about Gabriel?"

Widow's glare focused on Sombra's eyes now, the ice in the look almost like icicles stabbing into her.

"We both know what happened to Gabriel."

Sombra snarled slightly, taking a step closer and pushing her gun closer to the woman's face. She knew something.

"Do we spider? Do we both know what happened? Because something tells me that you know a little bit more than I do."

Widow continued her unbroken stare at Sombra, her scowl seeming to intensify.

"What we both know is what happens if I say anything more. You want knowledge, come and get it."

Sombra grit her teeth as Widow put her hood back on, spinning around and starting to walk off.

"I saw him you know... Gabriel." Sombra spoke quickly a bit louder as if trying to reel the spider back in with one last attempt.

Widow stopped, her head turning to one side and even though Sombra couldn't see the eye staring at her, she felt the cold at her throat.

"Gabriel is dead. You need to accept that."

One of her arms shot out, a hook soon latching onto a nearby rooftop. With one fluid motion, the spider was gone from sight. Sombra finally lowered her gun and put it away, still trying to figure out how the spider had found her.

Why had Talon sent for her now? Why were they worried about her being with them?

She looked down at the still passed out man, leaning down and caressing his face softly before pulling him up and resting him against the wall of the alley.

She pulled up a few screens, fingers working away before a voice filled the alley.

"What can I do for you, Miss Sombra?"

"You know what I need, you're the one who sent the spider."

"Ah yes, so glad that Amelie could find you. We've just been worried sick about you and need you to come in at once. I assume you need a ride?"

Sombra bit her lip as she looked over at McCree, swallowing a bit hard.

"For two."

"Oh? Amelie doesn't strike me as the motor pooling type."

"Not for her. Just do it."

The voice didn't respond to the command, merely letting out a 'hmmph' before closing the call.

Sombra slowly sat down, making herself comfortable beside the passed out man. His breathing was slow, but stable. She looked him over, almost feeling bad for what she had done. Her mind raced with scenarios of how he would have helped her. How she didn't have to knock him out. She pulled her hair back, letting it fall against her back before leaning her head against him.

"Sorry vaquero. I'll make it up to you, promise."


	8. Change of Plans

Before Sombra had time to get too comfortable, she would hear a loud motor making it's way closer to the alleyway. She jumped to her feet, hand grabbing the grip of her gun in preparation for a non-friendly encounter. A large black sedan pulled up at to the alley entrance, sleek design and coloring making it stand out like a sore thumb when compared to the small town's rustic scheme. The passenger front window rolled down, revealing an omnic driver. Sombra released the death grip on her weapon before making her way to the side of the car, leaning closer with a small smirk.

"Hey papi, I don't mind playin' with metal but it'll cost ya more."

The omnic didn't reply, it's red colored eyes simply staring soullessly at Sombra. Talon was never any fun, always sending her the bots that had been stripped of everything but their main directive. Sombra sighed and shook her head before pulling off the car and spinning around to head back towards the still passed out McCree. She looked over her shoulder and called out to the driver.

"Open the back door Jeeves!"

"YES. MA'AM."

The omnic pressed a button which led to the passenger back door to pop open widely, revealing a very dark leather interior. Sombra leaned down, reminding herself to lift with her knees and not her back as she hooked her arms under the vaquero's arms and tested his weight against her strength. She managed to at least get him off the wall easily enough, but there was no way she was going to get him off the ground. Slowly she began to drag the man along the alleyway, his pants growing dirtier by the second. After what felt like an eternity of dragging dead weight, Sombra felt her back pressing against the trunk of the car.

"Alright vaquero... just a little bit more now..."

She took a deep breath, grunting as she lifted the man as high as she could off the ground. Thankfully the sedan was low to the ground, which meant she only had to pull McCree about two feet from where he had been laying. She quickly made sure to roll him onto his front, knowing that the man's spine would thank him later. With his front half inside the car, Sombra came to a new problem. How was she going to get the rest of him in? She looked over the man's lower body, one foot idly tapping at his lower legs as she thought it over.

"Hey Jeeves, can you lift?"

"NEGATIVE. MA'AM."

"Damn."

Sombra let out another sigh before crawling into the car, her focus on the problem causing her to forget that the car probably had another entrance into the backseat. She turned to face outwards, crouching down just enough to grab a hold of the man's pants tightly. With a few powerful tugs, she managed to slide those legs into the car and finally shut the door behind him. She fell back into one of the seats, the long stretch of the back mimicking a limousine as Sombra huffed from the stint of physical labor.

"Nevermind about making it up to you Vaquero. We're even now..."

Sombra clapped her hands twice, assuming the bot knew what that meant. The loud roar of the engine coming to life confirmed this assumption as the car pulled forward and left Sombra with time to collect her thoughts on things. She pushed her foot along McCree's body, finally pushing him onto his back and placing her feet on him like a coffee table. She smirked as she took in the features of his unconscious face, wondering how long he would truly be out for.

"Well now vaquero, shall we pass the time with some learning?"

Sombra brought up her screens quickly and ran through them before finding the layout of the Talon base that they were headed for currently. She had only been through a few of the halls and rooms, the security there being quickly equipped to handle her skills. She smiled as she remembered her first time there, meeting her lovely team of Gabriel and the Spider. They were both so uptight and serious the whole time! She had only hacked a few wellsprings of info, nothing that Talon couldn't stop and recover in time.

Bringing up the layout, she would note that there had been a few enhancements within the last few weeks. Mainly more turrets and barracks to house the Omnic guards. A few small things happened to catch Sombra's attention though. First off was a set of poles that surrounded the building's perimeter. After a few swift finger movements it would be revealed that these poles were meant to act as a barrier around the place. With them activated, it would be impossible to remotely access anything unless given the correct permissions. A sly smirk gripped at Sombra's lips. She always did enjoy a challenge.

The next change was a massive influx of thermal detection equipment. Sombra rolled her eyes and sighed.

"You guys are making this sooo not fun..."

The strange thing about the thermal equipment though, was where it had come from. No names, no shipping details, not even prices for these bleeding edge toys. Sombra brought up a model of a specific scope, looking it over before a watermark revealed itself along the lens of the scope.

LB.

A slight chill ran down Sombra's spine as she blinked a few times, making sure that she wasn't just seeing things. She blew up the image, the watermark staying perfectly clear with each enhancement. So it wasn't a static image? Sombra bit her lip, chewing a bit harder than she should have as she pulled her hair into a loose ponytail, the heat escaping her shoulders.

She threw the picture away for now, going back to the items themselves to search for a weakness. With the scopes, it would be like when dealing with the Spider's rifle sight. get behind her and she's done. Though it would seem that a few special pieces of headgear were being used as well. When brought up they matched the look of the Spider's special sights, allowing her to see anything with a pulse for what seemed to be miles. More of those for trained soldiers was obviously not a bad thing, though all of this for just Sombra arriving? It seemed to be a bit much.

"Unless..." Sombra found herself looking up and staring out the window, the flat land flying by as dust trailed behind the car. Talon had invited her back and even sent a car. They knew what she could do, what she had done before. While she might end up turning on them, Sombra wasn't one to stick around and fight every last person. Even if the thermal equipment could find her, she could easily slip away with her translocator.

But what if they were scared of someone who wasn't a runner? Someone that could easily slip through their ranks without even a scratch, while leaving a trail of death and carnage behind him?

Someone that wouldn't show up on the heat range?

Sombra went back to the scopes and headgear, paying closer attention to the specifics. Her eyes widened as her thoughts were confirmed. The items weren't your typical heat sensory units.

They were altered to directly detect and focus anything under 10 degrees Farenheit.

With the heat of this place, it would be assumed that a civilized base such as the Talon one would be well air conditioned. While there were a few pocket areas, mainly "interrogation" rooms, the place was kept at a very cool temperature. With a constant running of cold air, it would be impossible to tell the difference between a cool current of air and a revenge fueled wisp of smoke. At least to normal heat detectors. They would instead lump everything under 60 or so into one color. Gabriel's... condition though, made him run much, MUCH colder. With these, they would be able to easily see him no matter where he went.

So this meant that they WERE afraid of Gabriel getting to them. But wait, that also meant that...

"You're alive...?" She whispered to herself, biting her lip as she took this as confirmation that what she had seen was real, or least most of it. Though if Gabriel was alive and Talon was scared of him enough to deal with this "LB" to get these sleek new toys, then why did they need her all of a sudden?

"¡Oh, mierda!"

She sighed and leaned back into the cushioned seat of the car. Her fingers came up to rub her temples slowly. She was fucking bait.

Here she was trying to relax and take some time off, when life decides to just throw her right back into a heaping pile of shit. She growled a bit before sitting up and starting to prod at the still passed out McCree. The man let out a few grunts but didn't stir too much. Sombra checked the small ball of electricity, eyeing it over to make sure she hadn't given the man too much juice.

She and the small trinket then went flying forward as the car came to a screeching halt.

Falling on top of McCree, Sombra growled as she quickly got to her feet and banged on the dividing window between them and the Omnic driver.

"Hey you stupid bag of bolts, a little warning would have been LOVELY!"

No answer. Sombra grit her teeth as she made her way to leave the car, finding the door being opened as she went to grab the handle. The brightness of the sun blinded her for a second before a large shadow overtook her, a hand reaching out and grabbing her by the collar and tugging her out of the car. The rough dirt under her instantly began to burn her skin, the scorching heat making the roll to land on her feet a bit more troublesome.

Sombra's eyes finally adjusted to the light, a snarl coming from her as she stood up quickly and drew her weapon. What stood before her was another omnic, though this one was made for combat. If it wasn't for the piercing red eyes and the complete stillness that the thing possessed, it could be passed off as an armor clad human. It didn't have the Talon logo emblazoned anywhere on it, which made Sombra wonder just who had sent it. Her eyes drifted to the slow crawl of smoke pluming from the front of the car.

"Aw man, I just got that thing washed too!"

The omnic took the split second of small talk as an opportunity, lunging at the woman with merely a small cloud of dust to show it's movement. Sombra had just enough time to dodge out of the way, holding her hand up to try and hack the thing. Whoever had sent it obviously wasn't too wise to what Sombra could do. Her fingers began to dance in the air as the omnic raised back up to a straight standing position, it's head slowly turning to stare her down once more.

"Buenas noches."

Sombra's flinched as she tried to hack the bot, her hand being rejected and sending out a small shock of interference. Waving the pain off, Sombra cursed under her breath. Somehow she should have known that this would be her luck.

"Alright then, a good old fashioned never hurt, right love?"

The omnic raised an arm quickly, it's fingers looking like they were going to grip at the woman. Sombra squinted, body ready to dodge the bullets or lasers or other form of projectile that was sure to come. What came instead were whip like tendrils from each finger, coiled metal lashing out and ripping through the air to wrap around Sombra's arms, legs, and throat.

"Ghhk!" Sombra choked out as the felt the cold metal wrap around her throat, cutting off her air supply as she was drawn in to stare into those beady, glowing eyes.

"You're coming with me."

The voice was... human? Sombra's eyes studied every bit of the face that she could before her vision began to blur. She had made sure not to kick and squirm too much, knowing she was trapped and it was merely a waste of her remaining energy. She felt her lungs burning as her hands were forced behind her back, the machine pistol slowly starting to slip from her grip. In one last push of effort, she managed to slip the tracking tool from earlier alongside the pistol before she dropped it onto the rough earth below.

Upon hearing the clank of her pistol meet the ground, everything went black.


	9. Unwanted Reunion

_"Still just a damned ingrate..."_

McCree shot up, eyes wide and searching his surroundings. His heart raced, sweat running down his face. His breathing was ragged and labored, body acting as though it had been deprived of proper oxygen. What surrounded him was empty darkness, mind finally taking in the black leather and cracked glass as proper information to help him find an answer. A car? How the hell? Without wasting much more time the cowboy crawled his way out of the busted piece of scrap, his legs tingling as the blood began to pump furiously back into them from the rush of adrenaline. As he reached his escape, his body tumbled onto the cracked and ragged ground. The cool night air swept across his dripping face, the moon basking him in it's pale light. His breathing finally settled back to a normal pacing after a few minutes, the man looking into the sky to remember why he was here. He took a slow and deep inhale as he sat up, arms resting on his now bent knees.

Last thing he remembered was Sombra and he in a shop, the shirt he had bought now drenched in sweat. But what came next? He closed his eyes and thought hard. There was an alley, a kiss? His heart pumped a tad harder as he thought of Sombra's lips against his own, the cowboy shaking his head to try and focus on the important things. He remembered seeing her lips moving, but all that he heard was pain as his body locked up and blacked out.

"Dammit..." McCree kicked at the ground with his heel, taking his hat off the ground and wiping off his forehead with his shoulder before placing the weathered head cover back where it belonged. He wiggled his toes a few times, checking the status of the tingling. Nodding to himself, he jumped up to his feet, planting them and only wobbling slightly as he regain his composure fully. Taking a slow look around, McCree took in his environment. He saw nothing but flat earth surrounding him. His eyes came back to focus on the broken car, the man's curiosity getting the better of him.

He strolled over slowly, inspecting the front of the black sedan cautiously. The smoke had long since passed, though the smell of leaking gas stung his nose the closer he got. McCree thanked the heavens that nobody had wanted a smoke while he was out, as waking up fried was one way that he would rather not live. The hood of the car was caved in, the dent too large to be anything human. At least flesh and blood appendage. He wrapped around the car to look back inside the vehicle for anything that might give him more information. He crawled back inside slowly to grab his gun, spinning the revolver around his finger before planting it firmly into the holster at his hip.

"Welp, no use sittin' round here waitin' to die..." McCree chuckled to himself as he began to check a the small cabinets that the vehicle housed, broken bottles of booze breaking his heart a little more each time he saw one. This thought was soon washed away by the sight of a few bottles of water, the man's dry throat starting to ache upon seeing the liquid. He grinned widely and cracked open the first bottle to chug the whole thing down, a few streams escaping his mouth to run down his chin and throat. After finishing he let out a satisfied sigh and did his best to find some way to carry more of the bottles. He had sadly forgotten his poncho at Sombra's hideout, the rush of being attacked and moving on making it easy to slip on the small things.

After rummaging through every cabinet the car had to offer, McCree sighed. Nothing. Not a damn thing to act as a pack. His eyes lifted to the perfectly untouched glass that sat between the front and back seats, his metallic arm quickly making a fist. The soft thudding of his fist against the glass filled the car a few times, before the man managed to punch through the barrier. While the glass didn't crack, McCree had made a big enough hole to peek through. Leaning up against the barrier, he began to look around the front end of the car.

What struck him first was the sight of the mechanical driver, the omnic creepily sitting in place as though the car hadn't been caved in from the front. McCree rested his right hand on the end of his gun, a slight nervousness creeping up his neck. Finally prying his eyes from the driver, McCree looked at the other side only to be disappointed. He let a slow breath out through his nose, though he hadn't been expecting a miracle.

"SIR."

McCree jumped back, drawing his gun and pointing the barrel at the omnic's head through the hole, hand shaking ever so slightly.

"DO YOU REQUIRE MEDICAL ATTENTION?"

McCree sat there for a few seconds, unsure of how to answer. He knew the omnic wouldn't be able to do anything to him, but the sudden noise had caught him off guard. He steadied his breath before slowly giving the Omnic an answer.

"No."

"DO YOU KNOW WHERE MISS SOMBRA WENT? MY INDICATORS CANNOT SEEM TO FIND HER."

McCree raised an eyebrow, holstering his weapon and leaning back up to the hole, though not nearly as close this time.

"Whaddaya mean, 'can't find her'?"

"I MUST FIND HER SIR. MY MAIN DIRECTIVE IS TO DELIVER MISS SOMBRA TO HEADQUARTERS. I MUST NOT FAIL."

"What happened to the car?"

"MUST. DELIVER. MISS..."

"Yeah I got that part, but even if Miss Sombra was here, you couldn't deliver her. Your car is destroyed!"

The Omnic paused for a second, before slowly turning it's head to face McCree.

"CRITICAL FAILURE. DESTRUCTION IMMINENT."

McCree felt his heart stop, the words making him freeze in place.

"Ah shit."

The Omnic's face split down the middle to reveal a large holographic interface, the countdown starting right away.

"FIVE."

McCree began to scramble towards the back door.

"FOUR."

McCree grabbed another bottle of water for the road. He could carry at least one, his other hand open for using his gun, should he need to.

"THREE."

As McCree felt his first foot hit the rough ground that awaited him, he head a noise from behind. The breaking of glass followed by a low growl. Circuits ripping and electricity crackling into the night air. As he spun around, McCree was once again frozen in place. His body locked up as he saw his past flash before him, mixing with the present.

He was looking at a ghost.

The black clad figure had ripped the Omnic driver's head from it's body, the countdown still going as the head was chucked a rather far distance from the car. In the distance McCree could hear a very soft speaking of that last digit before a massive explosion filled the sky.

McCree swallowed hard as his eyes were locked on the figure, who's back was still to him. McCree had managed to bring his other foot from the car, his body slowly crawling into that familiar position. His knees bent slightly, head turned downward just enough for the brim of his hat to cover the horizon. His hand came up to his hip, readied to pull the weapon from his holster.

The shroud in front of him turned it's head to the side, it's hood still covering it's face, though a hiss soon filled McCree's head.

 _"You think one bullet's gonna kill me?"_

McCree felt his jaw clench. There was no way that could be common knowledge. Unless...

"My name finally come up on your list, Gabriel?"

The wind blew softly between the two men, the long black coat that shrouded the figure in front of McCree waving as it spun to face the readied cowboy.

 _"If I wanted you dead, I would've just watched you burn."_

McCree's eyes sized up the man before him, his former mentor of sorts. The pale skull that sat on his face made it hard to determine where the man was looking though something told McCree that the moment he moved just an inch out place, he would be met with retaliation. McCree decided instead to try out his second best skill: small talk.

"Heard you were dead."

 _"Didn't take."_

"So you gonna tell me why you're here, if it ain't to kill me? Also, how'd you know I only had one bullet?"

 _"Been watching Sombra, unfortunately you had to show up. I know the ring of your gunshots."_

McCree couldn't help but chuckle. If it had been a few years earlier, McCree would have earned a nice smack to the back of his head. He felt a small uneasiness as he continued to look over the man. He knew he couldn't trust Gabriel, but there had to be some reason for him not being dead yet.

 _"We're going to get her."_

McCree raised an eyebrow, his body easing up from the standoff position, thumbs slipping between his belt and pants.

"Didn't take you for the caring type Gabe."

A growl came from the shrouded figure, those clawed fingers clenching into fists at the mentioning of the man's real name.

 _"She's still useful. Just like you, **unfortunately**."_

The heavy sting of that last word merely made McCree grin more, the man growing brave enough to pull his hat from his head to place it over his heart.

"Well butter my biscuit mister, I sure do love bein' useful!"

The tension in the air was thick after McCree's jest, the shroud staring holes into the opposing man's head. Before the thoughts of killing the ingrate came to fruition, Gabriel spun on his heel. He made his way into the night at a quick pace.

McCree snickered before placing his hat back onto his head, heading in the same direction as the dark hooded Gabriel. He knew to keep his distance, lest the man feel it necessary to attack. Also meant he could talk freely.

"So where is she and how do you know we're going the right way?"

 _"Talon."_

"As in that's where she is orrrr that's how you know we're heading the right way?"

A growl was all that was given in response, so McCree took it as somehow Talon had to do with both. Of course that rose a few other questions, but McCree merely continued walking while thinking to himself. The only sound was of their steps upon the cracked and dry earth, the two men walking in silence for quite some time. McCree finally remembered he had the extra bottle of water in his free hand, cracking the thing open and starting to drink from it slowly. The water was refreshing, even if it was rather warm now. His eyes stayed upon the cloaked Gabriel, making sure to not let his guard down just yet.

After taking those sips, McCree cleared his throat a bit.

 _"If you ask me one more damned question, I'll make sure it's the last thing you do."_

McCree shook his head.

"You expect me to just work without information? You changed Gabriel. Even during Black..."

McCree had barely blinked his eyes before running smack into the shroud that had simply appeared before him. Having Gabriel this close was unsettling to the core, those empty black holes in the skull mask making it hard to not back up.

But McCree stood his ground.

"Even during Blackwatch, you at least gave us something to work with. You want my help after all the shit you've pulled? You're gonna have to give me a little leeway to make me think it's even worth my time."

Gabriel stood there for a few seconds, not making a single movement. No twitches, no clenching of fists. Just that cold stare.

 _"You'd see her dead then?"_

McCree was the reactive one this time, his hand making a fist quickly as the thought of decking Gabriel flashed through his head. He withstood the temptation, instead gritting his teeth as he replied.

"Because I'm supposed to believe YOU are her guardian angel?"

McCree brought up his right hand and shoved a finger into Gabriel's chest, though didn't push him away. Gabriel looked down at the finger that prodded his chest, a very soft growl coming from him.

 _"You don't want to do this, boy."_

McCree snarled a bit before pushing that finger into Gabriel's chest a bit more, before his palm shoved at the man's shoulder. His eyes were locked onto that pale mask, fire burning through his body.

"You don't tell me what to do. Hell, you never really did mister second in com.."

McCree was interrupted by a punch connecting with his face, the power behind the fist causing him to stagger backwards. The pain filled his cheek quickly while droplets of blood fell from his now busted lip and stained the ground below. Growling lowly, McCree lunged at the shrouded figure. His already low stance allowed his shoulder to meet Gabriel's stomach and bring the man down to the ground with a sold thud.

A hammer of both fists came down onto McCree's back, knocking some air from his lungs but not enough to loosen his grip. Pushing both arms back in a well timed counter, McCree got his first real shot in at Gabriel, a solid right hook to what McCree assumed would be the man's jaw. He felt the slight sting of that tough mask being met by his clenched fingers but the adrenaline soon blocked this small injury out. His right hand gripped at Gabriel's throat, his mechanical arm raising up and battering that mask to the point that a crack ran from top to bottom.

McCree tasted the blood spilling to his tongue each time he licked his wound, his breathing heavy as he raised that metal fist once more. Gabriel was laughing, the sound a bit garbled.

 _"There's... the ingrate I trained..."_

The words caught McCree off guard, the shock giving Gabriel an opening which was quickly taken advantage of. A solid punch met McCree's jaw and forced him from his advantageous positioning to bent over on the ground.

His vision was slightly blurred from the sock to his face, blood slowly pooling under his mouth. He spit a bit while trying to catch his breath but finding it hard as a large boot was brought to his stomach, a powerful upward kick from Gabriel. The rush of pained air from his lungs was followed by the thudding of his back as it hit the ground under him. He tried his best to get up, being pushed back down by the bottom of Gabriel's boot against his head.

 _"You'll never change Jesse. Too many soft spots."_

Gabriel huffed a bit as the mask fell from his face in two pieces. He knelt by McCree, grabbing his shirt and lifted the man up to look him in the eyes. McCree could barely focus, though the slight rest from being assaulted allowed him to at least catch his breath.

His eyes finally brought Gabriel's face into focus, the angry man still just as pissed off at the world as McCree remembered. The only difference was that the man was as pale as that mask he had been wearing.

"Least... I ain't afraid of what I am... heard you had some... technical difficulties with life here recently..."

McCree turned his head to spit another wad of blood from his mouth. Bringing his head back to stare at those dead eyes of Gabriel's, he waited for another shot to his face. But nothing came. Instead he felt his back and head smack against the ground once more, Gabriel rising from his knelt down position and now standing over the beaten man.

 _"Get up. We don't have time for this."_

McCree began to weakly chuckle before feeling something drop into his chest. Looking up, he saw a small device. He slowly rose to sit up, wiping his lip and spitting again before taking the odd thing into his hand.

 _"That's how we're going to find Sombra."_

Gabriel's back was to McCree, the man finishing his sentence and starting to walk away once more. McCree fiddled with the bauble, technology not his forte. As he turned at some of the dials, a small screen finally popped up with a very wide area showing where they were. Two blips were on the screen, right beside each other. It didn't take long to assume that these were Gabriel and himself. His eyes searched for another, a very tiny arrow pointing in the direction that Gabriel was already walking. Mccree pressed a few more buttons and turned a few dials trying to find out everything he could about the device. A small screen with a message suddenly popped up right in the middle of the map.

 _Vaquero,_

 _Don't come for me. Go back home and forget about me. They don't want you, just Gabe and me. We'll figure things out. Thanks for the drinks though, they were probably the best part of these past few days._

 _-S_

The message disappeared after McCree had read it over a few times, his heart racing as he jumped to his feet and finished that bottle of water quickly. He followed Gabriel, soon passing the shroud as his pace was quick for having just been beaten in such a way. His eyes were dead set on the horizon, mind clear and determined as he repeated his objective to himself.

He was going to make sure he bought that girl another drink.


	10. Controlling Lies

Sombra slowly became conscious as a feeling of warmth covered her face. While her eyelids still felt heavy, the strange feeling had her curious and was making it impossible to remain asleep. The creeping warmth soon covered the entire front of her body, warming her in a way that she hadn't been able to experience in some time now. She was... relaxed? There was no sense of danger, no need to shoot up out of bed with gun drawn. She felt at peace with her current position. Her chest rose and fell in a calm manner, her eyes finally opening as the curiosity got the better of her.

The first thing that came to sight was a bright blue body of water, spread as far as her eyes could see before her. It was so beautiful, the sound of the waves making their way to shore starting to wash into her ears. She could smell the salt in the air, her gaze starting to float from the ocean to a bit closer. Looking to her right, she saw nothing but sand. Not a soul to be seen. It was a tad bit odd, considering how beautiful this area seemed to be, but nothing to worry over. She brought her head over and looked down at herself, a beach chair keeping her held up from the ground. Her caramel skin shimmered slightly under the sun, accenting the softness of her figure. She was glad to see that she was decent, even if there was nobody around. A simple two piece, purple and white in color. She took a deep breath of that salty ocean air before looking to her left, eyes opening a bit wider.

"Vaquero?"

The man had his eyes closed, the apparel she had come to known replaced by a pair of red swim trunks. Her eyes searched his muscular figure from bottom to top slowly, the smirk growing as she noticed his hat still atop his head. Somehow she wasn't surprised. Her eyes lingered along his mechanical arm, finally getting a good look at where the metal met the man. She wondered if staying the water too long would rust it over, the thought fading as her eyes met his matching gaze.

"Well hey there beautiful, seems you dozed off on me."

She felt her heart flutter as he spoke, the comment making her cheeks even warmer. That was new. She couldn't stop herself from smiling stupidly, rolling slowly onto her side as she kept their look locked. He did the same, raising an arm to rest his head in his hand, looking her up and down rather openly.

"Like what you see vaquero? Should take a picture, it'll last longer."

She giggled softly as she teased the man, the relaxed state that she was in making it easier to joke around though she had to admit there was something wonderful about the way he was looking her over.

"Who needs pictures when you got the real thing right by ya?"

Sombra raised an eyebrow at this statement, an accusatory look coming over her face.

"Is that so?"

McCree chuckled and smiled that stupid smile before Sombra saw his head move in a calling manner, the cowboy wanting her to join him. This was furthered by the patting of his hand on his seating. Sombra took a deep breath and sat up, stretching slowly to tease the man with a good look at her figure, the top to her swimsuit doing little to cover the sides of her breasts. When she finally slipped off her chair, she would get a feel for that sand between her toes. The feeling was... strange at first. The stuff was so soft and warm as it molded to the shape of her foot, each slow step being a miniature massage for her usually worn down soles. Her stance was now one with her back to the sun, the untouched half of her soon be warmed to equal her front as she climbed into McCree's long beach chair, relaxing against him. He smelled of sunscreen and sweat, the mixture of scents washing out the salt of the ocean each time she inhaled. Her head rested against his chest comfortably, as if made for such a thing. She could hear his heart beating in his chest, the soft thumping filling her thoughts and making it hard to focus on remaining awake.

Sombra softly mumbled as she rested against the man, her eyes finding it hard to pull themselves back open.

"Vaquero..."

She felt his hand run along her thigh and up her side before it rested on her cheek, the man pulling Sombra's head from his chest in order to press his lips against hers. Sombra was quickly revived from her near slumber, her lips pressing upwards hungrily to meet the cowboy's affection. Her hand went to reach for his face but in her half dazed state it instead brushed up against the man's crotch. She felt her face begin to burn with embarrassment, hoping that perhaps the man hadn't noticed.

Instead she felt his lips pull away, already knowing that he was smirking as he spoke.

"n'Here I thought you were trying to relax..."

His gruff voice filled her ears and made her shiver a bit, her breathing growing heavy as her hand slowly came back to rest on the man's now obvious bulge. She bit her lip rather hard, her hand starting to massage the man. A sudden spark of thought caught Sombra off guard, her eyes opening slowly while she rested her head against the man's chest once more. She couldn't hold back the thought, knowing it would eat at her until she asked.

"Vaquero, how did we end up here?"

The question was innocent enough as Sombra only had bits and pieces of what had happened within the past few hours. She remembered her place being sacked, getting the cowboy a new shirt and meeting the spider but after that things got... fuzzy. She hadn't been trying to think too hard since she had woken up but this small seed of doubt had quickly triggered the now standard "doubt everything until proven otherwise" train of thought that was ingrained with her brain.

"Now now, askin questions ain't gonna keep me away from you.." His lips pushed against her skin that warm feeling of sedation spreading with each new kiss. Sluggishly, Sombra brought her hand up to his shoulder and pushed him away while biting her tongue to keep herself awake. Her speech was a bit slow, though she managed to get her suggestive thought out. She hoped it would be enough to get some form of story.

"I just want to know... where we are... so I don't forget this moment... with you."

"Heh.. well we're on the beach, obviously. We decided that the spider was full of shit and agreed to get away with the car Talon sent us. You passed out on the way here and apparently haven't been too conscious since..."

Sombra's breathing was slowing, the darkness of sleep starting to cover her sight once more as those words trailed through her head. He was lying. She knew this, but couldn't seem to make the connection. Where was she really? How did she end up here? With one last push of strength, Sombra bit her tongue to get that spark of pain. Her eyes shot open, the shock to her system just enough to grab the fake by his manhood and squeeze her nails in. Hard.

"Augh, fuck! What the hell?"

The man winced in pain, his hands quickly trying to grab Sombra's and pull her off, her grip only tightening as the feelings of sleep and comfort began to drain from her body. The sun against her back wasn't warm. She couldn't smell him nor the ocean. She knew what was happening.

"LET. ME. OUT."

"Wh-what are you goin' on about darlin'?"

She growled, pushing the fake McCree from the fake seating, her knee coming up to rest against his throat and applying increasing pressure. She was making it obvious that she was in no mood for this.

"I don't know who you are, where I am or what you've put me in but I can say this. If you don't let me out right this fucking instant, I will tear you apart with my own hands."

The choking man went along with his act for a few seconds longer, overacting the choking and loss of air before his emotions went cold and blank, save for a small smirk. Not the smirk she knew, this one was much more sinister.

"Good job, little shadow. It didn't take you nearly as long as I had thought. It's a shame though. I was looking forward to seeing just how bare I could get you both physically and emotionally. Though I suppose the former I could do at my own will..."

The sentence was cut off by Sombra's knee pushing further into that fake throat, the woman growling loudly.

"Touch me and your hands go first."

A soft chuckle filled her ears even though her knee should have cut any ability to do so off. Guess she had drawn whoever it was out of their little game. She released her grip and pulled herself up, scowling as she stared over the now lifeless puppet McCree. She grit her teeth as she looked around the beach, the feeling of the place shifting to one of barren nothingness. She spoke loudly to the nothingness around her, as if calling out the owner of the voice.

"You were smart to keep me drugged, pendejo. But now..."

She closed her eyes, deep breaths filling and leaving her chest as she focused.

"Now you get to see what I can do..."

* * *

"Uhm sir... we're getting readings here..."

The technician looked worried. These levels were insane. Her heart rate was skyrocketing, her breathing rapid. There was no way her body was handling this and making it out alive. No matter what buttons he pressed, switches he threw, the woman's body wouldn't stop thrashing.

"SIR, WHAT DO WE-"

He was cut off by that mysterious noise in his head, a calming effect soon washing over his body though not erasing his fear of death completely.

 _"You will observe. You will watch. She knows she is in a simulation now. It's only a matter of time before she escapes. But I need to know her level of control. You know what to do, should she threaten you..."_

A slate black pistol sat openly in the middle of the man's desk, the thing loaded and ready to deal with their prisoner if need be. The man heard the words fill his mind, nodding along quickly and going back to monitoring the woman inside the simulation. She wasn't even moving! She was just standing there, so why was her body reacting in such a way? His eyes looked back up to the woman's strapped in body, her constant banging against the metal not helping the man keep calm. His right hand rested on the weapon with an uncertain anticipation.

The woman suddenly went still.

A few seconds passed, the man's eyes staring at that limp form before him. Slowly he rose from his chair, the flat tone of that heart monitor becoming the object of his hearing's focus. He swallowed hard, knowing that if she were dead that the voice would fill his mind once more though with that agonizing pain. Slipping away from his desk, he grabbed the pistol and clutched it tightly. This had to be a trick of some sort. He had been shown what the woman could do, but how long could she truly play dead? As he stepped down into the well lit area that housed the woman, his free hand grabbed an adrenaline shot, popping off the top while that pistol was shakily aimed at the woman's head. As he raised his hand with the shot, he felt something hit him. Not physically, but within his head. Upon feeling this, the entire place went dark. Lights, computers, everything just shut off.

The man dropped that shot to the floor, both hands now on the pistol as he waved it blindly around the room to try and find the source of what had just happened. He swallowed hard, waiting for the voice to fill his head once more. He needed to know that everything was alright, his finger on that trigger and getting itchier by the second. What he got instead was the sound of scuffling behind him, his paranoia skyrocketing. A swift turn to aim the gun into that darkness, followed by multiple pulls of the trigger. Muzzle flash illuminated the empty room for split seconds at a time, the man knowing he hit nothing but equipment. His ears rung from firing in such close quarters, the lights finally coming back on to show the bullet holes that riddled a cabinet. His eyes adjusted slowly, shifting from place to place before landing on that table once more.

Empty.

Before he was able to react, he watched as he was disarmed and flipped onto his back upon that rough and cold floor. A knee pressing into his sternum, the still hot tip of that gun barrel being pushed against the front of his head. He knew what had happened, he was going to die here. All of this work, to die in some unknown place. He looked up to the now revived woman, the look back at him one of pure disgust. She spoke, probably asking why she was there, who he was, etc. He wanted to tell her, to do whatever it took to get away from her, from this place.

 _"Don't worry. You did your job swimmingly. The light welcomes you, brother."_

The voice was in his head again, his heart and body calming as the woman repeated whatever it was she was asking. He felt his lips moving, but was unable to tell what he was saying. His mind was slowly slipping away, vision getting blurrier. The last thing he saw was his arm reaching out to the woman, perhaps to show her that he was ready to embrace the light. To leave this place.

* * *

Sombra pulled the trigger, the shot ringing through the place as blood splattered under the man's head. She felt sick, but she felt the tight grip on her throat loosen before that arm flopped back to the floor and allowed her to breathe freely. She swallowed the sickness back down, standing quickly to leave the scene and try to get information on where she was exactly.

She felt slightly weak, the self inserted E.M.P. that resided within her body always having this effect on her after usage. As she slid up to the computers that had been monitoring her, she made sure to check the pistol for how many bullets remained in the clip. Just 6. The man wasted more than she had thought, but it would have to do until she could find her own weapon once more. Her fingers went to work on the computer, the man thankfully still signed into his work as she made her way through his files. She went to bring up her screens, only to find that her gloves had been taken as well. Sighing, Sombra looked around for some sort of memory device.

"Tsk tsk little shadow, none of that now!"

That voice filled her ears, Sombra's eyes suddenly being filled with an image of a silhouette on screen. It was visibly a man, though he must have been wearing something to cover his profile as his head was far too smooth. Sombra still took in every detail she could, the darkness speaking to her again.

"You've come so very far and even though I truly will miss Samuel there, I suppose you will do whatever it takes to get out of here. I can respect that."

"What do you even want from me you bastard? Why put me in a sim if you know I'll just break out?!"

"Oh dear, I was merely trying to help you out! I've watched you for some time little shadow and I have seen how tired you are. Always running, always hiding. Watching people around you die, causing those deaths yourself..."

Sombra clenched her jaw as her eyes resisted the urge to look over the dead man that laid bleeding not too far from her.

"I just figured that if you wanted it bad enough, you would give up the fight. Yet here we are and here YOU are again. Tell me though, will you run and hide like the scared little girl you are?"

A locker popped open beside Sombra suddenly, making her jump slightly. Inside sat all of Sombra's equipment, save for her gun.

"Or will you play the hero that we all know you're not?"

The screen flickered between security cams in order to follow a squad of heavily armed men. The last screen was that of a large security door opening, revealing two men. The hat on one made it obvious as to who it was.

"Vaquero..."

Sombra's fingers ran along the man, her eyes soon flicking to the other. Dark hooded figure, but no mask to be seen.

"Gabriel..?" She softly mouthed to herself, unable to confirm this before the silhouette returned to her sight. The silence and tension grew for a few seconds.

"The choice is yours little shadow. Though, you could come and find me if you so wish."

The shadow chuckled softly, raising a hand and snapping his fingers. The door behind Sombra snapped open, the sound of every door around doing the same filling her ears as she shot up from her seat and grabbed her equipment. Before she made her first step outside, Sombra heard the voice one last time.

"I'll be waiting."


	11. Opening & Closing Doors

The sound of large metals doors echoed through the facility, each pair slamming into their holders and allowing unfiltered access to whomever decided to roam the halls. Heavy steps could already be heard coming from all angles, a mixture of screams and call outs ringing through the otherwise dead air. Sombra swallowed hard, her mind starting to race as she looked around the room one last time for anything that might come in handy. Before she could grab anything though, the sound of magazines being slid into guns caught her ear.

"In here! Clear!"

A grenade passed in front of Sombra's face as she waved her hand in front of her face, the active camouflage of her suit slipping over every inch of her body. Sombra wasn't about to stick around to find out what kind of grenades they were using, her legs kicking into high gear to push her for that wide open door. Thankfully her steps were silenced through her camo though the noise filling the hallway made it even easier to run past the stacked up guards that were waiting outside.

Unlike McCree and Gabriel, Sombra wasn't about to try and fight every last idiot who stood in her way. If they were all this easy to slip by, she could finish this fight as quickly as she wanted to. All she had to do was find the right room. She heard the grenade go off behind her, the men rushing in and unloading their weapons without a second of hesitation. Seemed they were shooting first and asking questions later.

Sombra made her way down the hall, hearing the men calling out clears and cursing as their bullets all seemed to have hit nothing but walls. She knew her camo wouldn't last forever, but thankfully it wouldn't take too long to recharge between uses. She felt her second skin peeling away, knowing she could be seen but continuing to make her way down the long series of halls. The place seemed like a maze, each dead end just splitting and leading to more rooms and halls. Sombra's irritation was growing with each step she took, the sound of gunfire passing through her ears and wavering in pitch as she made her way through the labyrinth.

"So close, little shadow. So close, yet so far away."

The voice made a chill run down Sombra's spine as a large group of men rounded a corner, coming face to face with the woman.

"THERE SHE IS!"

Sombra cursed under her breath, the men all stopping and taking aim at her quickly. In a split second decision she snapped her arm out to one side, rearing it back into a throwing position as a small device slipped into her hand. A smirk came to her lips as she slung the small device at the floor towards the men.

"Hey boys, CATCH!"

The device skidded across the floor, flashing brightly as it stopped right past the huddled up men. All of them were soon throwing themselves into nearby brooms, certain that the woman had just lobbed some form of grenade right under their feet. Sombra chuckled as she leaned forward to speed up and grab the device with one hand as she passed it, blowing the men a kiss with her other as she disappeared once more. She heard the clanking and cursing of the men behind her, one of them managing to lean far enough out of the door to unload a few rounds into the seemingly empty hall.

The whizzing of bullets around her kept Sombra low to the ground as she ran, turning another corner quickly to avoid the spray and pray. As the nearby ringing ended, the familiar sound of a revolver and shotguns filled Sombra's ears. Had she really found the vaquero and Gabriel that easily?

Slinking through the hallway now, Sombra pressed herself against the corner, peeking around it to find where the familiar output of noise was coming from. Her eyes lit up slightly as she saw the two men making their way towards her though their backs were to her as they unloaded round after round into the advancing army that trailed behind them.

Sombra quickly rounded the corner to join them, about to call out to them when she felt the air leave her body instead. Her eyes widened as the rush of pain filled her stomach and then her entire body. Her eyes searched for the reasoning behind this, a slow melt effect happening before her eyes as the same Omnic that had brought her here now had his fist securely in her gut.

"Ah ah ah little shadow, did you really forget about me already?" The voice came from the Omnic, those bright red eyes staring down at the gasping woman before those tendrils wrapped around her once more to secure her as it's prisoner. Sombra managed to gulp down enough air to allow her body to fight, legs kicking and fists punching at the cold metal that now pressed against her back.

"Let... go... of... ME!"

That last accented word caused McCree to spin around, his eyes locking onto the Omnic as a snarl came to his lips. Before he could reload his trusty sidearm, Gabriel had lunged towards the lumbering Omnic. The man's current shotguns were dropped to the floor with a loud clang before the Reaper was mere inches from the motionless bot, two new ones pulled form his cloak. Their barrels were pressed into the thing's guts, Gabriel doing something that Sombra had never seen him do before.

He was smiling.

"NOW!" Gabriel yelled loudly before pulling both triggers, the point blank shotguns exploding against that sleek metal frame. At the same time, Sombra's eyes flicked upwards to the vaquero, who had taken an aiming stance. One eye closed, head cocked to one side and staring down the iron sight of his revolver. Within a second of the shotguns being unloaded, the cowboy took his shot.

The destined bullet landed straight between the Omnic's bright red eyes, a hole joining the other facial features. Sombra managed to pry herself free of the thing's arm, the loosened grip being followed by the arm falling the the thing's side. Gabriel stood back up, staring into the Omnic's eyes as he chuckled.

"Tins cans, just a dime a doz-gghrk"

Sombra flinched backwards as the arm that hadn't been holding her shot upwards and gripped Gabriel by the throat, the mechanical monster's stare never leaving the cowboy down the hall. Gabriel was raised into the air with little effort, a few stray sparks escaping the hole that adorned the Omnic's face plate.

"I have no use for two dead men. Allow me to acquaint you both wit-"

Another shotgun blast silenced the Omnic, it's head being cleanly removed from behind. The thing dropped Gabriel to the floor before keeling over, wires spilling onto the floor. Sombra stood tall behind the thing, one of Gabriel's shotguns smoking in her hands as she smirked.

"Here I thought _I_ talked a lot."

Gabriel mumbled as he rubbed at this throat, growling softly as he kicked the fallen Omnic guard. McCree quickly made his way up to Sombra, picking her up into a hug which led her to blush just a tad. She hadn't been expecting such a sudden show of affection, especially not in front of Gabriel like this.

"Hey hey hey, calm down there vaquero. Else I'll have to add to those bruises..."

She tried to hide the smile on her face, failing horribly as she pushed her hands against the man's rather bruised face. She turned away from both of the men for a few seconds, taking a few breaths before turning back around with a wide, confident smile plastered on her lips.

"Alright boys, let's go destroy this bastard!"

McCree and Gabriel both raised eyebrows at her sudden leadership over them, Gabriel shaking his head as he pushed past her. The only recognition he really gave her was a pat on the shoulder, McCree smirking as he leaned in and whispered.

"Don't worry, he missed you too darlin'. Hell, he swallowed whatever pride he had left and saved me from certain death. Mighty mean of you to leave me out there like that by the way."

Sombra squinted at the man's accusation, bottom lip coming out a tad before she barked back.

"Well sooooorry that this big lug was sent out to kidnap me and interrupted your beauty sleep!"

"Well now as I remember, **_you're_** the one who knocked me out cold in the first place."

McCree had that shit eating grin on his face, one that Sombra couldn't fight at this point in time. She instead huffed and followed Gabriel, the cowboy snickering as he made up the rear of their little gang. The three of them snuck along the hallways, the sounds of gunshots missing from every direction now. While this made sense, the silence was deafening in it's own right. Stopping at a turn, Gabriel looked back. Sombra still wasn't completely used to seeing his unmasked face. She tried not to stare too much as he spoke.

"You have any idea where we're going Sombra? This all seems too familiar..."

Sombra thought it over in her head, before looking around for any form of electronic device that could be attached to the place's network. Seeing a room opposite them, she ducked inside and nestled up against a large server before bringing up her screens and attempting to get a schematic of the place. As if right on cue, Gabeirl and Mccree heard footsteps surrounding them quickly. Ducking inside the room and each taking a side of the entrance, the men readied for another fight. McCree looked over at Sombra, shooting her a look.

"Don't worry about us doll, you do what you gotta do."

Sombra rolled her eyes as McCree smirked, the revolver in his hand being spun a few times before he rolled around the corner and began to unload shots into the oncoming soldiers. Gabriel had already popped around his corner a few times, the shotgun blasts carrying a heavier sound and equally heavy impact. Sombra searched and searched through her screens, biting her lip as she continued to run into block after block. She could almost hear that voice in her head, mocking her for being so slow, for being unable to get past his obviously toying efforts. The cries of men and their guns were distracting, but nothing Sombra hadn't been used to hearing before. Hell, this was close to a zen like state for her.

"Got it!"

Sombra grinned from ear to ear. She had access to not only the map, but most of the facility at this point. She was sure her opponent knew this, but he hadn't been too keen on stopping her side hackings while looking for the layout to the place. Slipping up to McCree and Gabriel, Sombra patted both of them on the shoulder.

"'Scuse me boys, let me show you how it's done..."

Without a moment of hesitation, Sombra jumped into the hallway, her hands stretched out and facing both sets of assaulting soldiers. She looked both ways, her confident smirk becoming a target.

"Now now, y'all wouldn't really wanna hurt a poor little thing like me, would ya?"

Sombra caught herself speaking in a rather noticeable southern drawl, pausing for a second before getting back to her fun. Her right hand went palm up, fingers pointing to the ceiling. If she had memorized the path correctly, then they needed to go to the left, meaning that the others were of little use. Those on the right side were soon blocked off by a massive metal wall. Sombra turned quickly to the group that had been left, both hands coming up before her first fingers and thumbs made a small rectangle.

"Smile boys..."

With a small flick of her head, the men were gunned down by an automated system that had been left inactive until she found them. She was weary to keep them on for too long, but she was confident in her control should they become a hindrance.

Standing up straight, Sombra slowly made her way over the pile of men that had been standing in her way only a few seconds before. She looked over her shoulder, calling out to the other two.

"Well come on now, we don't have all day you two."

Gabriel grumbled as he passed her, though not getting too far ahead. McCree hopped over the bodies and gave an impressed whistle.

"Shoo, if only that bar had had turrets."

"Coulda used country music..."

Sombra giggled a bit as she passed the vaquero, his head shaking a bit from the obvious jab. Looking around, she quickly led them along the path they needed to follow, only having to bring up her small screen a few times to make sure they took the right turns when needed. Each minute that left them without a fight put the entire trio on edge, knowing that something had to be lurking in one of the hallways. It wasn't until they reached a wide open room that Sombra stopped them.

"This is the heart. Least, it's where the most activity is coming from..."

The doors both in front and behind them slammed, shutting the trio inside and making it obvious that this was indeed where they were intending to reach. The room grew a bit dimmer before that familiar voice filled the area.

"My my my, you've surprised me little shadow. Here I thought you would have run away by now, or at least had those two scoundrels dead for your own benefit. Seems you've grown a bit soft but I can't really blame you..."

Two successive noises filled the room, each of them followed by impacts of hitting their targets. Sombra barely had time to flinch before she whipped around, McCree and Gabriel on the ground. Both of the men were fighting a growing second skin, the sleek black goop swallowing their chests and arms, forcing each of them onto their stomachs with arms behind their backs. Sombra grit her teeth as she whipped back around, taking a few steps into the room and looking around to find where the rat was hiding.

"Well, I'm here you jackass. How about you come out so we can get this over with?"

Sombra's eyes moved from spot to spot to keep herself from being cornered. She slowed her breathing, ears pricking up to catch any sound possible. The floor began to rumble, a large crack forming under Sombra's feet. Jumping backwards to safety, she would watch as a platform rose from the depths below. On it was what appeared to be a medical bed, a sheet covering what Sombra assumed to be a body. Beside it stood a young looking man, a wide smile plastered on his face. The first thing Sombra noticed about him was the hardware attached to his body. It matched hers perfectly, though the boy seemed to have went much further with his enhancements. His skin was pale, eyes sunken in and slightly glazed over as purple eyes stared at the woman that stood before him now. He didn't seem human.

"And there she is... the woman of the hour!" The male clapped his hands a few times, those eyes of his looking warily over Sombra. Seems he knew she was going to try something and now it came down to outplaying one another.

"I assume you want to know why I brought you here? Why I went through all the troubles I did?" It became clear that this was just a game to the strange man. His tone and the slight shake of excitement in his voice made a chill run down Sombra's spine. The demented smile that crept up his face made it hard to keep calm, the unnerving tension in the air making Sombra a bit more twitchy.

"Lemme guess, I screwed you over at some point and this is your revenge?"

The man laughed loudly, taking a few steps past the table and body to stare at Sombra a bit closer, before shaking his head.

"Oh no my dear little shadow. I am but a shepherd to the lost! I am but a small piece of the bigger puzzle!" He giggled a bit frantically, eyes starting to roll into his head before he shook it off, focusing back on her.

"The light finds and brings everyone, EVERYONE into it's graces. Isn't that right?" The question seemed to be to no one, though the man stopped talking and began to look over his shoulder towards the body behind him. Sombra swallowed a bit hard. How had this crazy man given her this much trouble? He barely seemed able to function, let alone control anything around him.

As he turned, Sombra's eyes widened a bit. The look on the man's face was stern and serious, a complete difference from just a few seconds before.

"You look confused my dear. Don't worry. The light will guide you to true knowledge."

Raising his hand up, the man's fingers seemed to lock onto Sombra's limbs suddenly. She could feel herself losing control, her body going numb as she tried to fight. Is this what it felt like when she hacked people's enhancements? Her head was starting to feel lighter as she took slow steps towards the man. Her eyes began to flutter, knees hitting the floor before her hands were the only thing holding her up. She could feel him slipping inside her head, a bright light starting to swim within her brain.

"N...no..."

"BACK OFF JACK!"

Sombra couldn't bring her head up to see what was happening, but she heard the sounds of bodies hitting the floor. One beside her and one in front of her. The light was fading slowly, Sombra shaking her head and taking in gulps of air as her lungs began to burn. Had she not been breathing? Had the man truly had that sorta of control over her?

Throwing herself backwards, Sombra's eyes finally focused in to see Mccree at her side, on his back and breathing heavily. Before her, the man was laid out but starting to recover. Without a second though, Sombra jumped to her feet and tackled the man back to the ground, that pistol she had taken from the man earlier being whipped out and placed firmly against her opponent's temple.

"D-do it... please..." The whimpering was of the afflicted man, purple eyes staring up at Sombra with the desire for release. A sudden rush of regret washed over Sombra, giving the man a perfect chance to knock her off of him, the gun slipping from her hand and scooting across the floor.

"Did you remember then? Where this shell of mine comes from? Just another lost soul that you put out with your crusade for knowledge. Your careless nature leaves nothing but strife and struggle in it's wake. But you know that don't you?"

The man's foot was soon at Sombra's throat, slowly applying pressure as he growled down to her.

"You are the reason I had to do this. You and the rest of the darkness that has consumed this planet. I brought you here as I will bring others here. Everyone will soon know just how glorious the light feels, as it banishes the dark-"

A crack filled the air, the sound of a gunshot ringing as the man's expression went blank. A drop of blood trickled down his face before he fell backwards onto the floor. Sombra scrambled to her feet, looking around before seeing a distinct flash of red light slip out of sight. Sombra was left panting heavily as she went over to McCree, finally finding the way to break open the things surrounding him and Gabriel.

With the both of them free, Sombra swallowed and went back to the man and looked him over. Her eyes pulled up to the table, her hand reflexively pulling the sheet off of it. What laid underneath wasn't a body, but a casing of sorts. A glowing box sat underneath with a small monitor attached. Kneeling down, Sombra read over the text flashing on the screen.

'SCHEDULED UPLOAD STARTING'

Sombra didn't know what the thing was talking about, but she figured that this was one thing that nobody needed to find out about. Taking the pistol that had been kicked from her hand, Sombra went back and unloaded the rest of the bullets, sparks soon starting to fly as the casing quickly lost power. She then dropped the pistol and began to make her way out the door, barely looking back to address the two men.

"We're done here."

Gabriel and McCree looked at each other before following her out, Gabriel leaving a little something behind to make double sure that this place was forgotten. Talon might not like it, but he was sure that he could make up some excuse to satisfy them. After all, they had bigger things to worry about.

The walk back to the surface was quiet and somber, none of the three really feeling up to talking. Sombra herself felt strange. She hadn't killed the man herself, but his words had done their fair share of hurt. She didn't like to think about the consequences of her actions and as she turned to look over her shoulder, she saw not the men but the two roads she could take.

Gabriel led to Talon, led to more of the same that she had been doing for the past few years. She had grown used to Gabe and the Spider, though she wasn't sure if she could continue with their plans while keeping up her own jobs. Plus the growing management had started to make things feel a bit crowded.

On the other hand, the vaquero led to the complete opposite. Pulling out the small ball of trapped electricity, she couldn't deny that part of her wanted nothing more than to slip away with him and all this. That beach scene from the program making her heart sting for a moment. She couldn't do that. They wouldn't let her. Overwatch wouldn't accept her, no matter how much the cowboy vouched for her. She sighed as she looked back ahead, the night sky soon over their heads.

"Gabe, call it in. We need to move quickly."

Her voice was steady, calm. She was doing her best to play it straight and hope that the cowboy didn't make a scene.

"Now hold on there..."

Dammit.

"You really goin back with him? After all the crap we went through these past few days? I know you don't think that the others will accept you but we don't even have to go to them. We can run together. I promise I ain't that big a troublemaker, not anymore at least."

Sombra felt her lips tugging to a smile, though she fought it as she turned to face the two men. She waved Gabriel on, the man barely looking at McCree before nodding and walking away. As Sombra closed the gap between her and the cowboy, she nearly tackled the man with a hug. She buried her face into his chest, breathing him in a few times before leaning up and whispering into his ear.

McCree's body suddenly tensed up, the man falling over into a slump under Sombra once again. She knelt down slightly, pressing her fingers to her lips before passing the kiss to the man's lips.

"Good idea. The less he knows, the better. Hopefully he's glad that I left him alive when he wakes up..."

Sombra waved the brooding man off rather dismissively before passing him up.

"Save your weird dreams for later Gabe, we have work to do. Did you call in the strike?"

"Nothing will be left by the time the sun comes up."

"Es hora de dejar que el pasado muera."

Sombra made her way into the darkness, head up and facing forward. She wasn't sure what the next step was for her, but she did know one thing. Nobody was going to get to her like this again.

* * *

Hey there guys, thanks for reading this story. Know it took got dang forever to finally finish but life has been getting the better for me recently. I am already thinking up some other stories, though I am not sure when it will come. Hope to see you guys then!

Thanks again!

* * *

McCree looked up slowly, eyes searching the horizon before he sat up, arms stretching out as he picked up his hat to set it upon his head once more. He chuckled to himself as the words from the woman filled his head once more.

'Play along vaquero.'

Taking out the ball that she had tapped against his stomach, he smiled and fiddled with it until a message popped up once more.

'Come find me cowboy, you owe me a drink.'

Pulling himself to his feet, McCree dusted off and began to walk. He brought the small tracking item out, the soft beep of the woman and Gabriel leading the way. He'd let her slip away for now, back to her shadows to lie low. But he would find her soon enough.

He owed her more than a drink, after all.


End file.
